Student Abandoned in DEA Cell for 5 Days Settles for $4.1M

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YMZ PE

YMZ PE

Kind of a Big Deal
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/daniel-chong-settlement-dea_n_3678217.html?utm_hp_ref=college

A friend of a friend of mine who was accidentally left handcuffed in a DEA holding cell for 5 days without food, water or a bathroom settled the lawsuit for $4 million today. It seems like such a small amount for what he went through...especially considering after the ordeal he switched majors from engineering to econ even though he was so close to graduating. The lost wages plus the medical bills probably amounted to at least the settlement amount.

 
wow. It's amazing how these things happen in this day and age....and for no reason whatsoever

 
Last edited by a moderator:
If it were me, that settlement would have had about 2 more zeros added to it.

 
Four million seems like a lot to me.

I think he was actually lucky, in a way, because I don't think "Oh, I was just there to smoke some pot," would have flown real well as to why he was in a house with 18K Ecstasy tablets.

 
Capt Worley PE said:
Four million seems like a lot to me.
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Read about this yesterday and thought the same thing. $4 million is enough so you don't have to work the rest of your life, and I would assume he still has the ability to work.

I didn't think about medical bills though, but I would think since he was in custody when this happened, the feds would have paid the medical costs?

 
In America, these settlements are based on emotions and intangibles like "emotional distress, pain and suffering, etc." and are not typically tied to actual expenses related to the subject of the case. I'm always amazed that others who suffer similar circumstances of pain and suffering say due to an illness, military service, or accident from natural causes like a lightning strike or some such accident (without a specifc party to sue for the cause) get nothing for their "pain and suffering" despite the fact that the resulting circumstances are typically as traumatic both physically and mentally.

Not to say the "victims" don't deserve the compensation, it just the inequity compared to others that suffer and get nothing. These unfortunate and bizarre incidents are like winning the lottery to some of these victims.

 
Road Guy said:
was he really a friend of yours YM?
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We have mutual friends but I never met him. We live up the street from each other but went to different high schools.

CW - before this happened, the feds confirmed he had no involvement and were supposed to let him go. And is being in jail really worse than being forgotten and left to die?

As for the amount, I can't imagine you don't get permanently impaired by something like that. If not physically, there's the PTSD. The part that disturbs me most is how many people we didn't hear this happen to. Like undocumented persons who died with no advocate. I hope the settlement involved the feds agreeing to install surveillance cameras in cells and other things to prevent this happening again.

 
That's messed up!

I've forgotten things at work, but it was sending an e-mail. Didn't anyone go home and think, "Man, it feels like I'm forgetting something..." And where the heck is this cell that no one went by there? Seems odd that just now is when the DEA is deciding they need some cell standards. I'm not saying that drug lords are the best people on earth, but it's odd to me that they were allowed to have a cell without some standards.

That said, here's the PSA for the day- don't head to a friend's house to smoke weed, kids. You might find yourself drinking your own pee.

 
one would think his hands would have been all bruised and bloody from pounding on the doors for hrs on the first day...

 
mudpuppy said:
Capt Worley PE said:
Four million seems like a lot to me.
Click to expand...


Read about this yesterday and thought the same thing. $4 million is enough so you don't have to work the rest of your life, and I would assume he still has the ability to work.

I didn't think about medical bills though, but I would think since he was in custody when this happened, the feds would have paid the medical costs?
Click to expand...


$4 million for a guy in his twenties? Figure 50% of that will go to his lawyer, and 40% to taxes. I'm not sold on being set for life.

 
Some digging says personal injury is tax free, punitive damages are taxable, legal fees are not tax deductible even for tax free awards or settlements.

 
Supe said:
Some digging says personal injury is tax free, punitive damages are taxable, legal fees are not tax deductible even for tax free awards or settlements.
Click to expand...


Legal fees were capped at 20%, according to the article.

 

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