By Sean Philip Cotter
The York Dispatch
YORK COUNTY — A few months after York County settled one lawsuit filed by a former county prison inmate who was allegedly pressured by guards into fighting another inmate and doing other degrading stunts during what the guards called “retard olympics,” another former inmate has filed a similar civil-rights lawsuit in federal court.
In a lawsuit that names several county correctional officers and prison staff as defendants, David M. Wright, currently of Cumberland County, claims the correctional officers violated his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment.
The suit asserts that three guards — Daniel H. Graff, David Michael Whitcomb and Mark Andrew Haynes — directly made the “retard olympics” happen. The three forced Wright in spring 2012 to fight fellow inmate James William Hicks Jr. in a closet while they placed bets, the suit alleges. It also alleges that when Wright won the fight, Graff lost some money on the bet, so he and Haynes then beat Wright up.
The suit also includes allegations that the guards forced the inmates to drink milk and eat cinnamon until they threw up, that the guards sprayed them with pepper foam for the guards’ amusement, and that the guards made the inmates consume spoiled food and cleaning solution.
All three guards have been charged with crimes related to this incident and no longer work for the county. The suit also names several 19 other prison employees, including Warden Mary Sabol and other supervisors. It also names the prison board; the suit alleges that the supervisors and board fostered a negative environment that allowed this to happen, and by definition of their jobs are responsible for preventing actions like those alleged to have taken place.
Mental illness: The suit alleges that Wright is mentally ill, and that the guards used that to target him. Wright says he suffers from “major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, psychosis, dissociative disorder, and intermittent explosive disorder, and was regularly taking medication” to treat these disorders at that time.
The suit alleges that the guards “targeted Wright for torture and abuse because he suffered from one or more qualifying mental illnesses.”
Related proceedings: Whitcomb, 30, of Hellam Township, Haynes, 27, of Jacobus, and Graff, 38, of York, were slated to stand trial in early 2015 on charges of official oppression, conspiracy to commit that charge and harassment. However, they have appeals pending before the state Superior Court that have delayed the trial.
The county settled a suit with Hicks, the inmate the guards are accused of forcing Wright to fight, in December for $40,000. The settlement included no admission of liability by the county, prison or guards.
County solicitor Michael Flannelly at the time said the county opted to settle the lawsuit rather than go through the costly court process where the county could have received an “adverse verdict in excess” of the amount for which it was being sued.
Wright’s attorney could not be reached on Tuesday for comment.