Darren Rainey: left in a scalding shower
Darren Rainey was a mentally ill man serving a sentence at Dade Correctional Institution in Florida. In 2012 he was left in a scalding shower and died. In January 2018 the State of Florida and other defendants settled with his family for $4.5 million.
A public record, not a client of this firm. Everything on this page comes from the court file, the government announcement or the reporting cited at the end. Usher Law Group did not represent anyone in this matter, we publish no results of our own, and nothing here predicts the outcome of any other case.
Darren Rainey was serving a sentence at Dade Correctional Institution, a Florida state prison. He was mentally ill. In 2012 he was placed in a shower and left there. The water was scalding. He died.
The civil case took six years. In January 2018 the State of Florida and other defendants agreed to pay his family $4.5 million. The reporting describes the State's approval of the payout, which in Florida is its own step: a state agency cannot simply write a check above the statutory cap.
A prison death is the hardest kind of civil rights case to see from outside, because the only witnesses are the people who work there and the people locked in with them. Mr. Rainey's case became public, and it became a settlement, because it did not stay inside. That is the lesson families of people in custody learn too late: the record has to be made from the outside, in writing, while the person is still alive.
What the law calls it
A convicted prisoner is protected by the Eighth Amendment. For conditions and medical care, the official must know of and disregard a substantial risk of serious harm (Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994)); deliberate indifference to serious medical needs violates the Amendment, while negligence or malpractice does not (Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976)). Force against a prisoner is judged by whether it was applied in good faith to maintain order or maliciously to cause harm. Officers who stand by while another officer inflicts harm can be liable for failure to intervene.
The State of Florida is not a "person" under Section 1983 (Will v. Michigan Department of State Police, 491 U.S. 58 (1989)), so the federal claim runs against the individual officers. The state-law claim against the State runs under Fla. Stat. 768.28: a written claim within three years, two for wrongful death, damages capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, and any excess payable only by a legislative claim bill.
What it cost
Family of Darren Rainey
A mentally ill man left in a scalding shower at Dade Correctional Institution in 2012.
Source: WLRN. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
What it means for you
If someone you love is in a Florida prison and is being hurt, write to the facility and to the Department of Corrections, keep copies, and keep every letter the person sends you. "Knew of and disregarded" is the standard, and the letters are how you prove the first half. Our jail and prison abuse page explains the Eighth Amendment claim and what to document, and denial of medical care explains the medical version of it.
If a person has died in state custody in Florida, the wrongful death claim against the State needs a written claim within two years and is capped; the federal claim against the officers has four years and no cap. Our death in custody page lists the records to demand first, and what Florida pays explains the cap and the claim bill.
The pages this story points to
Jail and prison abuse
The Eighth Amendment standard for convicted prisoners and how it is proved.
Read →Death in custody
The records to demand at once and the claims a family can bring.
Read →What Florida pays
The caps, the claim bill, and the uncapped federal claim against officers.
Read →Sources. WLRN, "Florida OKs $4.5 million payout for brutal prison shower death of Darren Rainey" (January 28, 2018); Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994); Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976); Will v. Michigan Dep't of State Police, 491 U.S. 58 (1989); Fla. Stat. 768.28 (flsenate.gov).
Common questions
What is the standard for abuse of a convicted prisoner?
The Eighth Amendment. For conditions and medical care, the official must know of and disregard a substantial risk of serious harm (Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994)); deliberate indifference to serious medical needs is a violation, ordinary negligence is not (Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976)). A pretrial detainee, by contrast, is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment and, in the Second Circuit, an objective standard.
Who can be sued for a death in a state prison?
The individual officers in their personal capacity under Section 1983. The State itself is not a "person" under Section 1983 (Will v. Michigan Department of State Police), so a claim against the State runs under state law, and in Florida is subject to the 768.28 caps and the claim bill process.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.