The civil trial over the death of Erie County Holding Center inmate Richard A. Metcalf Jr. in 2012 is expected to be the most expensive case the county has ever had to defend.
Erie County had paid roughly $900,000 in legal bills defending itself and Holding Center deputies before the trial even began last week with jury selection.
Attorneys struggling to pick jurors for civil trial in Holding Center inmate’s death
“I would say this is probably the most expensive case we have had in this office, since I’ve been here, in terms of outside counsel bills,” said Erie County Attorney Jeremy Toth, who has worked in the county’s Law Department for 12 years. “It’s certainly towards the top.”
The trial will send the county’s costs skyrocketing, since it is expected to run for weeks, unless a settlement is quickly reached.
After a week of jury selection, only five jurors have been seated out of 10 required, as of midafternoon Monday. State Supreme Court Justice Mark J. Grisanti took the unusual step of barring the public and the media from the courtroom for jury selection, without giving a rationale on the record or alerting the public in advance, both of which are required.
Judge cites ‘protections of jurors’ in order barring public from jury selection in Holding Center death lawsuit
In November 2012, Metcalf’s airway was cut off when deputies tied a spit mask around his neck and pulled a pillowcase over his head as they restrained him inside the Holding Center, the state Commission of Correction found. Metcalf, 35, was taken to Erie County Medical Center and taken off life support after two days.
The commission concluded in 2016 that poorly trained sheriff’s deputies killed Metcalf – not a heart attack, as concluded by the county Medical Examiner’s Office.
Through the end of November, the Lippes Mathias law firm…
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