D.C. SETTLES IN DEATH OF PARALYZED JAIL INMATE

The mother of a quadriplegic inmate who died in 2004 after suffering
breathing problems at the D.C. jail has reached financial settlements
with the District government and his care providers, her attorneys
disclosed yesterday.

The settlements were reached in the controversial death of Jonathan
Magbie, a 27-year-old Maryland man who was paralyzed from the neck
down and used a mouth-operated wheelchair.

Magbie died four days into a 10-day jail sentence for possessing
marijuana, which he said he used to ease the discomfort caused by his
disability. The jail infirmary, where he was housed for several days,
wasn't equipped with the ventilator he needed to breathe at night.

His death sparked several government investigations, which exposed
major lapses in Magbie's care at the D.C. jail and Greater Southeast
Hospital.

Attorneys for his mother, Mary R. Scott, declined to provide details
of the financial settlement, which she reached with the city, private
contractors and the insurance company that covered doctors at the
hospital. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Scott,
called the settlement "substantial" in a news release.

As part of the settlement, the District government changed the way
officials screen and handle inmates with medical problems and
disabilities, Scott's attorneys said.

"The family's concern was to make certain that, to the extent anyone
can prevent it, that this terrible type of event never happens again,"
said Elizabeth Alexander, an ACLU lawyer who represented Scott. "A
series of people dealt with this young man, and every single place
where something could go wrong, it did go wrong."

Scott declined to comment through her attorneys. She filed a federal
lawsuit in 2005 that accused the District government, Greater
Southeast, three contractors and more than a dozen corrections
officers, doctors and nurses of negligence in Magbie's death.

A spokeswoman from the D.C. government said she could not comment
until looking into the matter. Greater Southeast is under new
ownership and has been renamed United Medical Center. A spokeswoman
for Corrections Corporation of America, which runs a portion of the
D.C. jail where Magbie was held, declined to comment. Representatives
of two other contractors did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Magbie's ordeal began Sept. 20, 2004, when D.C. Superior Court Judge
Judith E. Retchin sentenced him to jail after he pleaded guilty to
possessing marijuana. D.C. police found a gun and marijuana in
Magbie's pockets in April 2003 after stopping a vehicle driven by a
cousin of his. Magbie admitted buying the marijuana, records show.

Magbie's mother was furious that the judge did not give her son
probation, the typical punishment for first-time offenders. Magbie,
paralyzed since being hit by a drunk driver at age 4, had no criminal
record. Retchin told a judicial commission that she sentenced Magbie
to jail because he said he would continue to smoke marijuana to
alleviate his pain. She also told the commission that she was unaware
that he needed a ventilator to breathe at night. The commission
cleared Retchin of wrongdoing.

Because of his condition, Magbie was supposed to be housed in the
jail's infirmary, according to an investigation by the D.C. inspector
general. Magbie was taken to a hospital for "respiratory distress" and
returned to the jail infirmary, which didn't have a ventilator, the
report said. Jail doctors did not perform a follow-up examination and
did not always conduct daily rounds to check on patients, including
Magbie, the report said.

Magbie ate and drank very little during the next few days, the report
stated. On Sept. 24, 2004, he was having respiratory problems, and
paramedics were called, the report said. They found him to be
"unresponsive and very sweaty," and his undergarment was "saturated
with urine," the report said.

Paramedics told investigators that the trip to the hospital was
delayed by about 30 minutes because the jail staff would not allow
them to leave without the proper paperwork and without a blood sugar
test, the report said.

At the hospital, Magbie was "acutely ill," according to the report. He
died that night.