Woman was expected to begin classes at SMC
CITY HALL — The mother of a 23-year-old Ocean Park woman who hanged herself in Santa Monica Jail three years ago will be paid $125,000, elected officials decided last week.
Myeamma Claiborne, an exotic dancer and college student, had been out drinking on Main Street the night she was arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest. She was taken to an empty holding cell for women on the second floor of the old jailhouse behind City Hall, where she used her own jeans to hang herself.
Lawyers representing Claiborne’s mother claimed authorities were negligent and treaded on Claiborne’s civil rights by failing to monitor her adequately. They said officers were told Claiborne was in the middle of a mental breakdown. They added Claiborne should have undergone a medical exam rather than be placed in jail.
The Santa Monica City Council last week agreed to pay $125,000 to Jean Prosser, Claiborne’s mother. In exchange, Prosser agreed to drop her lawsuit against City Hall, Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts Jr., the arresting officer and the jailer working the night of the suicide.
Santa Monica-based attorneys Don Randolph and Frances Campbell, who worked the case on a contingency basis, said police know suicide is most common among women in local jails. They are told to pay special attention to inmates who are intoxicated, and those who are withdrawn and distraught.
“She was all of those things,” said Campbell, adding Claiborne had tried committing suicide at least two times ear-lier in life, once by overdosing on Aspirin when she was 15 years old. “She was incomprehensible. She was weeping. She couldn’t stand up on her own — plus, she had a huge keloid (scar) on her wrist.”
What’s more, Campbell claimed officers didn’t check on Claiborne as frequently as is required. A Santa Monica Police Department manual calls for routine checks every 15 minutes, but the jailers only checked on Claiborne at 30-minute intervals, according to Campbell.
On the first visit, Claiborne was found sitting on the floor and naked from the waist down. Mattresses had been pulled off of the bunkbeds and toilet paper strewn around the floor of the cell, court documents show. Claiborne was moved to another cell, without a bed or toilet paper. About 35 minutes later, the jailer found Claiborne dead, after hanging herself from a cell bar using her jeans.
Deputy City Attorney Anthony Serritella said officials thought they were simply dealing with an intoxicated woman and didn’t anticipate her suicide. The settlement was a way for City Hall to avoid the costs of defending the case, because even if jurors had found the city responsible for only a small portion of Claiborne’s suicide, the city could be pursued for all of the plaintiff’s legal costs, he added.
“Essentially, this is a cost-of-defense settlement, even though the number seems rather high,” Serritella said. “It was a relatively modest settlement for a wrongful-death claim.”
“Essentially, this is a cost-of-defense settlement, even though the number seems rather high. It was a relatively modest settlement for a wrongful-death claim.” — —ANTHONY SERRITELLA Deputy city attorney
Serritella added that a similar suicide was less likely to occur in Santa Monica’s new jail, which is easier to monitor because it is situated all on one level, beneath the new public safety building located behind City Hall on Fourth Street.
How much money Prosser will actually receive is unclear. She will share an unknown amount of the $125,000 settlement with her attorneys, and has about $12,000 in other expenses, such as a private autopsy and burial, lawyers said. At a recent settlement conference, Campbell and Randolph had pegged their fees at $50,000, according to Serritella. However, Campbell declined to divulge to what contingency percentage her firm is entitled.
Lawyers said at the time of the suicide, Claiborne was working as a stripper in Hollywood. She had been attending Pierce College in the valley, but apparently had been accepted to study at Santa Monica College. Prosser found the acceptance letter after Claiborne’s suicide.
“We’re talking about a girl who’s 23, going through a wild phase and getting out of it,” Campbell said.
Campbell called the settlement substantial, but said only time would tell if the suit would lead to change at Santa Monica Jail.
“Our client wanted the city of Santa Monica to take notice and change their ways,” Campbell said. “The city knows that some people who are arrested have health problems. They should check them more carefully... Unfortunately there’s a whole series of things that should have happened that didn’t.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 1, 2005. Read the original PDF.