How to Find Out What Happened After Someone Dies in a Jail

How Do I Find Out Who to Sue in a Jail Neglect Lawsuit?

One of the hardest things for a person to do, when that person’s loved one dies in a jail as a result of medical neglect, excessive force, or other improper or negligent actions, is to determine what happened and, probably equally important, the identities of jailers and or medical personnel in a jail who engaged in improper acts. This is made more difficult because of the law in some portions of the United States, regarding learning information from defendants in federal civil rights lawsuits, due to qualified immunity available to certain types of people. This problem is addressed in some lawsuits by naming what are referred to as John Doe defendants.

What is a “John Doe” Defendant?

A John Doe defendant is an unknown person who allegedly caused the death of a person in a jail. A recent case illustrates a situation in which several entities were sued, including a commonly- known jail medical provider (Wellpath, LLC), but in which the plaintiff allegedly was not unaware of everyone who supposedly did something wrong related to occurrences in the jail. We obviously have no idea whether any allegations against any of the defendants are true or valid, including any allegations against Wellpath. We use the case only for educational purposes regarding naming John Doe defendants in jail neglect and abuse lawsuits. Here is some information about the court’s order on the John Doe defendant issue in that case.

Example of a Federal Civil Rights Jail Lawsuit with John Doe Defendants

In that lawsuit Andrew Bowser sued several individuals and entities, including some named as “Jane or John Does 1–5.” However, Bowser did not properly serve these unnamed defendants with the legal paperwork within the required 90 days after filing his complaint. A federal magistrate judge ordered Bowser to identify these John Doe defendants by a certain deadline, which he failed to meet. As a result, the federal magistrate judge recommended to the Court that Bowser’s claims against these unnamed defendants be dismissed. Since no objections were raised against this recommendation, the presiding judge adopted it, and therefore, Bowser’s claims against the John Doe defendants are dismissed without prejudice, meaning they can potentially be refiled in the future.

Help Learning What Happened After a Jail Death

Investigating a jail death case is an uphill battle. Our jail neglect law firm finds that far too often families of those who die in jails are kept in the dark. In fact, many times, families choose to contact our law firm not because they intended to file a lawsuit right after the death of their loved one, but because they have become frustrated with sheriff’s departments, state police, and other law enforcement officials not providing information about what happened. It is vitally important that, if you lost a loved one in a jail, you contact an appropriate constitutional rights lawyer as soon as possible. Various statutes of limitations place a time limit on how long a person can wait before filing any lawsuit. Further, since these cases are usually filed in federal court, and federal court complaints must be detailed, you should retain an experienced civil rights lawyer to help you find out what happened. Our law firm is very familiar with these cases and has a team of lawyers who work on nothing but civil rights cases, almost all of which are jail death cases. If you need assistance, feel free to contact us 24/7 at any phone number on this website, through the chat box, or by completing a contact form.

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