By ESTEBAN PARRA and LEE WILLIAMS
The News Journal
12/02/2005
A civil lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of former inmate Jermaine Lamar Wilson alleges that Department of Correction officials confused Wilson with another prisoner who had a similar name -- and that they intentionally covered up their mistake.
And 20-year-old Wilson was murdered while in state custody earlier this year, the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Wilmington maintains. He did not commit suicide as prison officials have claimed, the wrongful death suit claims.
Prison officials say Jermaine Lamar Wilson hanged himself. His body was found Feb. 18, the day his mother said he was scheduled to be released from prison. The lawyer for Wilson's family, Wilmington Attorney Michael L. Sensor, claims in the lawsuit that the inmate was strangled to death in his cell last Feb. 18 at the hands of "persons unknown."
After Wilson's death, Sensor claims, the DOC "intentionally referred" to another inmate in the system -- Jermaine Lamont Wilson -- by his alias, Jermaine M. Wilson, "to conceal and obfuscate the fact that the two Jermaines were confused with each other," and that the wrong Jermaine was sent to maximum security at Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna.
Jermaine Lamar Wilson was in prison for robbery; Jermaine Lamont Wilson, 22, pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine.
"Jermaine's murder occurred on the day he was supposed to have been released from prison, after an alleged violation of probation filed against him by the Department of Correction was withdrawn, after Jermaine was ordered to be released by the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, and after an individual with the same name as him had entered the Delaware criminal justice system," Sensor said in the lawsuit.
Department of Correction spokeswoman Beth Welch said the DOC had not been served with the complaint and declined to comment.
Wilson's death was one of several examined in The News Journal's six-month investigative report on substandard health care in Delaware's prisons, published in late September. In response to the series, DOC Commissioner Stan Taylor wrote a five-page rebuttal, published by the newspaper, in which he argued that the reporting was riddled with errors -- errors he couldn't disclose because of federal privacy laws. "One particular case that highlights the inaccuracy of the series," Taylor wrote, was the case of Jermaine Lamar Wilson.
Sensor said in the lawsuit that Taylor's public response to the series "failed to disclose and intentionally withheld significant material facts," including:
•Documents in Jermaine Lamar Wilson's Superior Court file are actually those of Jermaine Lamont Wilson.
•Documents in the Superior Court files indicate that Jermaine Lamar Wilson was ordered to be released on Feb. 10 -- eight days before he died.
•Jermaine Lamar Wilson was transferred to two prison facilities in violation of his Superior Court's sentence.
•Jermaine Lamar Wilson had never exhibited suicidal tendencies.
Susie Wilson, the dead inmate's mother, said she was forced to sue because the state refused to answer questions about her son's death.
"They won't tell me why my son died, or why he died on the day he was supposed to be released," Wilson said Thursday. "Also, I don't want this to happen to anyone else. No one should have to go through what our family is going through."
Wilson was found hanging in his cell with a gash on his head. He had been serving time for a crime he committed as a juvenile. According to his family, Wilson's clothes were returned after his death, stained with blood.
The lawsuit was filed against nine prison officials including Taylor, prison bureau chief Paul Howard and community corrections bureau chief Noreen Rennard.
In the 47-page complaint, Sensor alleged a litany of mistakes by the DOC:
•Jermaine Lamar Wilson was placed in maximum security for no reason, and in violation of a Superior Court's sentencing order.
•Taylor and other defendants failed to investigate Jermaine Lamar Wilson's background before placing him in "the hole," solitary confinement with no privileges -- including access to his attorney.
•Taylor and other defendants failed to supervise guards charged with caring for Wilson.
•Taylor and other defendants allowed Jermaine Lamont Wilson's identity and criminal history to be confused with Jermaine Lamar Wilson's.
•Prison officials subjected Wilson -- who is black -- to punishment and treatment that "would not have been inflicted upon similarly-situated white inmates."
"We feel strongly about the allegations on the complaint," Sensor said Thursday night.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Wilson's mother and his son, asks for an undisclosed amount of general and punitive damages.
"The actions and conduct of defendants, as aforesaid, were reckless, outrageous, and carried out with reckless disregard for the rights of persons subject to the supervision of the Department of Corrections, including Jermaine, leading to Jermaine's assault and murder," Sensor said in the suit.
Laretta Wilson, aunt of the deceased inmate, said the entire family is frustrated and angry.
"His death was just dismissed by the politicians and the prison officials," Laretta said. "No one acknowledged that something was done wrong. They're not willing to take responsibility. I'm angry."
Jermaine's brother Jabar, an Army private serving in Iraq, spent the Thanksgiving holidays at home during a two-week leave. On Thursday he flew back to Iraq, Laretta said.
"It was hard for him," Laretta said, "the first holiday without his brother."
Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com. Contact investigative reporter Lee Williams at 324-2362 or lwilliams@delawareonline.com.
