10/11/05

Prison killing

Judge denies motion in Lathrem suit

PUNTA GORDA -- Circuit Judge Isaac Anderson ruled against the Florida Department of Corrections Monday during a hearing to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the father of correctional officer Darla Lathrem, who was killed April 2002 during a failed prison escape.

Attorneys for the DOC filed a motion to dismiss the suit in July, claiming Lathrem's family could not sue the state because her death was a workers' compensation issue and the state was immune to a lawsuit.

The motion claims that the suit is invalid. Florida statutes give workers' compensation immunity to the employer from lawsuits by employees.

"With one exception," said Peter Burkert, attorney for David Lathrem, Darla's father. "When the employer's conduct creates a substantial certainty for injury or death. And we believe the conduct of the DOC was such to create that certainly. They showed bad judgment and violated their own policies."

DOC attorney Craig Stevens argued that the suit's arguments did not raise the level of an intentional act of neglect by the DOC.

Lathrem filed the lawsuit against the DOC, alleging the department violated its own rules and policies and endangered the life of his daughter.

Darla Lathrem was killed June 11, 2003, when prisoners Dwight Eaglin, 29, Stephen Smith, 44, and Michael Jones, 48, attempted to break out of the prison. The three are accused of beating Lathrem to death with a sledgehammer and leaving her body in a broom closet, according to court documents. Another prisoner, Charles Fuston, was also attacked and died several days later from severe head trauma. His family filed a negligence lawsuit against the DOC in October.

The seven-page complaint, filed May 18, alleges that Lathrem was assigned the duty of supervising five inmates by herself. The prisoners were performing construction work at the correctional facility on Oil Well Road in eastern Charlotte County. Lathrem was armed only with a chemical spray, while the prisoners had possession of a variety of tools, including ladders, hammers, screwdrivers, sledgehammers, hand tools and power tools. All five prisoners had been convicted of violent crimes.

The suit also alleges that prison officials should have known that the three men who tried to escape had formulated a plan several months before the actual attempt.

The rules and policies of CCI require that work details should be supervised by two corrections officers at all times and that each officer within the secured perimeter be equipped with a personal body alarm. Lathrem was not equipped with a body alarm.

An investigation by state officials after the June 2003 incident also revealed violations of DOC policies and procedures. Several supervisors were demoted.

"Negligence does not get you around workman's comp," Stevens said Monday.

Lathrem was the first female corrections officer killed in the line of duty in Florida.

The lawsuit, filed in Charlotte County, seeks damages of more than $15,000.

Eaglin and Smith, both convicted murderers, could both face the death penalty if convicted. In May, Jones was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to a state mental hospital. If he is ever deemed competent, he too, could face the death penalty.

You can e-mail Alyssa Schnugg at schnugg@sun-herald.com.

By ALYSSA SCHNUGG

Staff Writer