A Minnesota county recently agreed to pay a $12.2 million settlement to a man who lost both of his hands, suffered from a heart attack and stroke as well as developed skin lesions due to becoming ill in police custody.
According to a news conference held on Wednesday, the lawyers of Terrance Dwyane Winborn announced that the settlement will cover the $2 million that has already been accumulated and will cover any ongoing care he will require. The settlement will be covered by the county’s insurance plan.
Per outside lawyer for Scott County, Jason Hiveley, the county will be paying the settlement along with the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust in an effort to dismiss Winborn’s lawsuit. The lawyer did not say if the county accepted its wrongdoings.
In their own depositions, the officials of the jail reportedly claimed they couldn’t remember Winborn’s time under their custody while they also failed to hold on to jail videos after 90 days, choosing to delete vital evidence.
“Scott County and its insurer the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust have agreed to pay $12.2 million to Mr. Winborn in exchange for a dismissal of his lawsuit and a release of the claims against the County and its employees,” said Hively per a statement. “The County and MCIT are hopeful the resolution of this matter will help provide Mr. Winborn with the medical care and quality of life assistance he needs.”
$12.2 million settlement for a man who lost limbs after 'deliberate indifference' by Scott County Jail. https://t.co/5vsgnbn6jP
— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) October 5, 2023
On Aug. 27, 2020, Winborn was arrested in a Minneapolis suburb under suspicion of drunk driving. According to his lawsuit, his blood alcohol level measured 0.13% at the county jail; the morning of his arrest, after his blood alcohol level went back to zero, Winborn began to vomit.
When a jail nurse went to him for a routine COVID-19 check, Winborn was unable to stand up and speak, and the nurse noted that his hand was swollen. When she went to measure his blood alcohol level a few hours later, she still denied Winborn the medical attention he required; the evening of the next day of his arrest, he was finally sent to the hospital by a corrections officer for treatment.
After being sent to a bigger hospital, Winborn was put in intensive care, where doctors amputated both his hand and part of his arm as flesh-eating bacteria took over the limb. Forced to live in a nursing home following the hospital visit, his left arm below the elbow was amputated as well after another infection in December.
“I don’t sleep because every time I dream, I dream I have my hands, you know. And I wake up, they’re gone again,” Winborn said in a video per AP News. “I’d rather have my hands than anything.”
