County personnel at a youth detention camp in Malibu ignored signs of a pending race riot in 2008 and, when fighting broke out between Latinos and blacks, a young man was left brain-damaged, an attorney said on May 14.
Lawyer Michael Goldstein, in his opening statement to a Los Angeles County jury, said his client, 24-year-old Nathaniel Marshall, would need lifelong care as a result of his injuries. Marshall sued the county in February 2010, claiming he was pulled from his bunk at Camp Miller and beaten on Nov. 1, 2008.
“This was a systematic breakdown that amounted to deliberate indifference,” Goldstein said. “These kids at that camp were entitled to be protected.”
Attorney Tomas Guterres, representing the county, was scheduled to deliver his opening statement during the afternoon session.
Goldstein said staffers and his client – who is Black – warned camp personnel that a riot was about to break out, but no action was taken to prevent it. The complaint alleges the county failed to properly train and supervise the staff to make sure they reacted properly to the warnings.
According to Goldstein, many of the probation officers at the camp blamed the outbreak of violence on a failure to properly discipline youths for fighting by sending them to court for violating their probation.
According to Goldstein, in October 2007 the county changed its policy that previously allowed supervising probation officers to fill out forms on their own to send youths to court for fighting.
The new procedure called for the filings to be approved by the director of Camp Miller, George Williams, Goldstein said.
Williams, however, believed the policy change was meant to discourage camp personnel from sending youths to court for probation violations, Goldstein said. Also, camp managers wanted to use of incentives or “carrots,” rather punishment or “sticks” to get youths to cooperate, Goldstein said.
Goldstein used a diagram to show how Marshall, then 18, suffered an injury to the back of his neck. He said his client suffered strokes from the attack and today has an assortment of health issues, including epilepsy.
“He needs special care for the rest of his life and it’s not inexpensive,” Goldstein said.
