RIVERSIDE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A California federal judge has allowed three of nine claims to move forward in a lawsuit alleging prison staff in Riverside County helped cause the murder of an inmate.
Judge Jesus Bernal issued his ruling Feb. 29 in a lawsuit brought on behalf of the Estate of Mark Spratt, a white man facing fraud charges who was placed in a cell with a violent Black inmate.
That inmate, Micky Payne, beat Spratt in the middle of the night in Jan. 12, then threw him over a second-floor railing, it is alleged. The wrongful death suit blames officers at the jail for placing the two together, failing to respond to reports of a fight in their cell and unlocking its door.
Bernal denied the defendants' request to dismiss all claims but did toss six. Those that can proceed allege public entity liability, Monell liability and supervisory liability.
Claims dismissed include negligence, Eighth and 14th amendment violations and Bane Act violations.
According to Jennifer Spratt's complaint, her 24-year old son was arrested on nonviolent drug charges and allegations of obtaining personally identifying information with intent to defraud on Jan. 12, 2023.
She claims her son was placed in a cell with an inmate, Payne, who had a history of violent criminal offenses including assault with a deadly weapon. The plaintiff further claims Payne made a call from the jail complaining that he was housed with a "white inmate" and that inmates in neighboring cells notified deputies of a fight in her son's cell without any response.
She says the deputies simply told the inmates to "stop fighting" but did nothing else.
She alleges a deputy later found her son in his cell on the floor. While the cell door was open, Payne is alleged to have thrown him over a walkway railing.
Mark Spratt was transported to a hospital and died from wounds including several vertebral fractures and facial hematomas.
The plaintiff seeks monetary relief, interest trial by jury and all other just relief. She is represented by Brynna Popka and Zachary Simpson of The McCune Law Group PC in Ontario, California.