Lawsuit claims former Nevada juvenile inmate was hogtied
A former Nevada Youth Training Center inmate claims he was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment at the Elko facility.
Jaylyn Garcia-Davis, who is representing himself, made the allegation in a lawsuit he filed March 20 in Clark County District Court. He used a “fill-in-the-blanks” complaint often used by inmates without lawyers and is seeking more than $2.1 million in damages.
Garcia-Davis, now 20 and in a state prison, claims he was placed in a small room without a toilet or running water and was hogtied for hours. He also claims two male staff members broke his hand while restraining him.
According to the lawsuit, much of which is handwritten, Garcia-Davis has suffered mental anguish as a result of the physical and verbal abuse he endured at the youth facility.
“I am now no longer a normal or happy human being,” he wrote. “I am angry most of the time for no real reason, filled with rage, violent towards people that have authority over me. I’m in fear of harming other people or my family.”
In July, Family Court Judge William Voy ordered officials to return 12 youths to Clark County after receiving reports that inmates were “hobbled” at the Elko facility.
Hobbling is defined as using a 2-foot chain to connect the wrist restraint to the ankle restraint, preventing the person from standing upright, according to state officials. They have said the hobbling technique has not been used at the youth facility since December 2013.
According to Garcia-Davis’ lawsuit, he was incarcerated at the Nevada Youth Training Center from February 2010 to February 2011 and from November 2011 to June 2012. He claims the facility’s medical staff refused to treat his hand properly after it was broken.
According to the lawsuit, three male staff members were responsible for hogtying him.
“I was banging on my door to go to the bathroom, and I was cold and hungry; so to get me to stop, the head group staff came to my cell with other staff and hogtied me … for hours,” he wrote.
According to the lawsuit, Garcia-Davis is at Ely State Prison. But the Nevada Department of Corrections website indicates he is at High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs. He is serving a sentence of two to five years for home invasion.
Garcia-Davis is not the first former inmate to sue the Nevada Youth Training Center over its restraint methods.
Daniel Vargas filed a lawsuit against several state officials in August. Vargas claims he lost eyesight after officers attacked him and hogtied him in November 2013 at the youth facility.
“We don’t want any other child to go through what Daniel and other children up there have had to go through,” attorney Al Lasso said when Vargas’ lawsuit was filed.
The Washoe County Department of Social Services and the state’s Division of Child and Family Services conducted investigations into reports of abuse and neglect at the Elko facility but determined that each use of mechanical restraint was necessary.
No one at the Nevada attorney general’s office responded to requests for comment Friday.
Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Find her on Twitter: @CarriGeer.
