Ex-inmates to share settlement in civil rights case

Four former Clark County Detention Center inmates will share a $23,000 settlement in a civil rights case they filed nearly eight years ago.

The inmates filed a federal lawsuit about a year after a June 2003 incident in which corrections officers Alan Hirjak and Christopher Brinkley threw lighted firecrackers into inmate areas at the jail.

"I think it became a matter of principle for the clients," said attorney Cal Potter III, who represented the plaintiffs free of charge.

Potter has worked on the case since 2003 as a cooperating attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.

"We did this as a service to the community and to these individuals," he said.

Potter said the Metropolitan Police Department will pay the inmates $8,000, but the two officers each must pay the group $7,500 out of their own pockets.

Attorney Thomas Dillard Jr., who represented the Police Department, could not be reached.

The case initially involved five plaintiffs, but Potter said Fred Robinson later chose not to participate. Potter said he lost contact with the inmate after he was sent to Virginia.

Those who will share in the settlement are Erik Watson, Alex Owen, Stephen Basden and Michael Krivak.

Records show that Krivak, 49, is being held at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City, and Watson, 44, is being held at the Southern Desert Correctional Center in Indian Springs.

A Clark County district judge sentenced Krivak in 2003 to between 13 and 35 years in prison for causing a fatal accident while driving under the influence of alcohol and for leaving the scene of the accident.

Steven Suwe of the Nevada Department of Corrections, said Watson is serving time for burglary and robbery.

Potter said Owen is in a California prison. The lawyer said Basden, 35, was paroled "and has changed his life around."

The lawsuit accused the officers of tossing large, illegal firecrackers near the inmates. The explosions left the inmates with varying levels of hearing loss and emotional distress, Potter said.

After an internal affairs investigation, Hirjak was suspended without pay for 160 hours, and Brinkley was suspended without pay for 120 hours. Both officers later returned to work.

Then-Sheriff Bill Young described the incident at the time as a "practical joke that went awry."

The lawsuit accused the officers and their supervisor, Sgt. P.J. Leeke, of conspiring to violate the inmates' civil rights for "sadistic pleasure."

U.S. District Judge James Mahan dismissed the lawsuit in 2006, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his decision in 2008. The appeals court upheld Leeke's dismissal from the case.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.