Judge signs off on dismissal of inmate suit
A federal judge signed off on the voluntary dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a former inmate at the Fayette County Prison who sued, claiming he was assaulted in prison, and that guards identified him to other inmates as a “snitch.”
The order, signed Dec. 19, covers all claims filed by Timothy Reckner against Fayette County, its prison board, former warden Larry Medlock, and guards Bruce McCombie and Joseph George Yeagley.
Reckner, of Uledi, alleged in a federal complaint that the county should have video cameras in the area of the a dumbwaiter he alleged he was stuffed into while an inmate in the prison in 2009. Additionally, Reckner alleged that McCombie and Yeagley assaulted him physically and told other prisoners he was a snitch.
Reckner agreed to testify against a man who was accused of killing a baby in 2000.
Yeagley was charged with assaulting Reckner, and ultimately admitted to the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program.
The program is generally geared toward first-time, non-violent offenders.
Admission to the ARD program does not require an admission of guilt.
Reckner was in prison serving a sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol and awaiting trial on a second charge of DUI between Aug. 17 and Sept. 2, 2009, Goodwin wrote.
It was during that time that the suit alleged Yeagley and McCombie “subjected the plaintiff to physical assaults upon his person by slapping, striking, shoving, manhandling, twisting and punching the plaintiff with great force about the plaintiff’s head, neck, arms, legs and back.”
The suit alleged that they told Reckner if he reported the assaults they would tell their superiors that he fell down the stairs, and would avoid getting in trouble.
At some point during that time frame, the suit alleged, Reckner was acting as an inmate worker in the prison, and Yeagley and McCombie forced him inside a dumbwaiter in the prison. The dumbwaiter got stuck between floors for five to 10 minutes, according to the suit.
Goodwin alleged that Reckner was “terrified and believed he was going to suffocate.”
The dismissal of the suit covers Medlock in his official and individual capacities, and covers McCombie and Yeagley in their official capacities as corrections officers.
The notice is signed off on by Reckner’s attorney, Benjamin F. Goodwin, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Maureen R. Kelly.