A wrongful death lawsuit filed after a Juneau man died in custody at Lemon Creek Correctional Center has been moved out of state court.
In their response to the lawsuit’s filing this summer, state attorneys write that constitutional claims raised in the lawsuit must instead be resolved in federal court.
In August 2015, a Juneau police officer had transported Joseph Murphy, 49, from Bartlett Regional Hospital to the prison for up to 12 hours of suicide monitoring and alcohol detoxification.
After spending the night in a cell under protective custody, Murphy complained of chest pains the following morning and then died from an apparent heart attack.
Murphy’s family alleges in the lawsuit that a prison nurse and two corrections staff repeatedly ignored his pleas for help.
In addition to the Alaska Department of Corrections, the lawsuit names prison nurse Jill Robinson, and corrections staff Michael Schramm and Robert Corcoran as defendants.
State attorneys write in their response to the lawsuit that any alleged constitutional violations allow them to move the case to federal court.
Specifically, they refer to the family’s claim that defendants deprived Murphy of his constitutional rights under the 14th Amendment, which forbids states from denying any person of “life, liberty or property, without due process of law.”
Murphy’s family seeks damages in excess of $100,000, the exact amount to be determined at trial.
Upcoming hearings for the case in U.S. District Court in Juneau have not yet been scheduled.
