Jury sides with prison system

PALMER — The Department of Corrections was not negligent in handling a prisoner request for transfer, a jury has ruled.

Richard Mattox of Wainright had sued the Department of Corrections after another inmate punched him in the face in July 2007. The punch, which broke Mattox’s face in five places and required six titanium plates and 200 screws to fix, and which Mattox claims left him with lingering vision and neck problems, came after veiled threats made against Mattox by a cellmate.

The inmate who threw the punch, Vince Wilkerson, is listed as a co-defendant in the case. The cellmate, identified only as “Aaron,” in court documents and testimony, was not.

Mattox testified he had asked to be moved out of fear about impending violence over the threats, and those requests were minimized and ignored. The defense portrayed those requests as motivated by desire for a better housing assignment, which is how corrections officers interpreted them at the time, according to assistant attorney general Susan West.

The verdict had consisted of a series of questions, the first of which concerned whether Corrections personnel were negligent in the case. In the event that jurors decided the department was negligent, later questions allowed them to assign a percentage of fault (and any monetary award) to Corrections and Wilkerson.

Mattox’s attorneys had sought an amount between $200,000 and $300,000, according to attorneys for Corrections. Jurors did not answer the later questions.

The determination of negligence centered on whether corrections officials had put Mattox at risk by failing to anticipate the assault despite Mattox’s requests for new housing.

The assertion was absurd, West said during closing statements.

“When he was on the stand, Mr. Mattox confirmed he had no inclination … of what Vincent Wilkerson was going to do prior to the assault,” she said. “But if he had no inclination that Mr. Wilkerson was going to assault him, then it’s even more incomprehensible that the Department of Corrections should have had such an inclination.”

“It was a spontaneous punch thrown by a guy who apparently … didn’t like anybody interrupting his (television) show about dinosaurs,” West added. “If this assault was not foreseeable, then this case is over.”

Wilkerson was added to the trial only after Corrections made the motion, and was not originally named in the suit, West said.

While Corrections officials have done a good job, the assault was clearly a case of the system’s failure, said Mattoxs’ attorney, Ben Whipple, on rebuttle.

“To a large degree, the evidence shows that they are a very caring bunch, that they do their job well, and we can all appreciate that, and it’s a hard job,” he said. “What this case is about is that it’s not a perfect system, and we don’t expect it to be, there are things that can happen, and this is one of those times.”

“I feel privileged to be part of a justice system, where someone who has little voice can come and have his voice heard in a forum like this, in equal measure to the Department,” Whipple added.

Closing arguments and jury instructions concluded about 3:45 p.m. By about 4:30 p.m., jurors had reached an agreement.

A civil trial only requires that 10 jurors agree on each question. Neither party asked the jury to be polled, so how the jury voted wasn’t immediately available Friday evening, when the verdict was announced about 5 p.m.

At one point in the case, Palmer Superior Court Judge Vanessa White ruled it should be thrown out but the Alaska Supreme Court overturned her decision and said in April 2014 that a trial should be held.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com.