In September 2016, New York state prisoner Matthew Raymond was taken to a hospital to deal with seizures. What followed left Raymond, then 28 years old, with lifelong trauma from what he described as a savage beating at the hands of correction officers.

Nearly a decade after that incident, Raymond, who said he was beaten so severely that he can now urinate only through a catheter, has reached a $1.2 million settlement with the state correctional department to compensate him for his injuries.

The settlement agreement, which also includes legal fees for the Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP attorneys who represented Raymond, resolves the lawsuit filed in December 2018. The deal contains no admission of wrongdoing by the defendants.

In the latest amended complaint, Raymond accused Lt. Troy Mitchell, an officer at Auburn Correctional Facility in the Finger Lakes region of the state, of viciously assaulting him. Raymond said Mitchell showered him with blows to his head, neck, chest and groin while Raymond was shackled and restrained inside the prison's medical unit — all while other officers stood by and watched.

Raymond also accused the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, or DOCCS, of failing to curb a "grotesque pattern of abuse and torture against inmates" perpetrated by officers, including Mitchell, whom the complaint described as a "notorious, serial, and violent abuser."

During a phone interview with Law360, Raymond, now 36 and out of prison, described his painful post-surgery recovery, including spending months with a wound from his sternum to his groin that required care twice daily.

"They broke my neck. They broke my back. I get constant kidney infections," Raymond said. "It's been a living hell."

Nicole T. March, a representative for DOCCS, told Law360 in an email that Raymond's allegations have been referred to federal law enforcement.

"DOCCS thoroughly investigated these allegations and ultimately was able to refer this matter to the U.S. attorney's office and FBI for investigation and potential prosecution," she said.

Council 82, the union representing Mitchell, declined to comment, as did his attorneys.

The settlement comes amid a recent spate of deaths of people incarcerated in New York prisons, some as a result of alleged violence by correction officers.

On Dec. 9, Robert Brooks, a 43-year-old prisoner at Marcy Correctional Facility, died after being beaten by correction officers. Body-worn camera footage captured officers punching, kicking and lifting the handcuffed Brooks by the neck.​ An autopsy ruled Brooks' death a homicide caused by asphyxia due to compression of the neck and blunt force injuries.

The incident led to charges of murder and other related offenses against six correction officers, and prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to order the firing of 13 officers and a nurse involved in the incident.​

More recently, two state correction officers were indicted on murder charges, and eight more for other charges, in the alleged beating of 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi at Mid-State Correctional Facility, also in Marcy, during a wildcat correction officers strike last month. Nantwi was in custody awaiting trial. Fifteen prison staffers were placed on leave in the aftermath of his death.

March said that following Brooks' death, Hochul and DOCCS Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III have committed to give expanded power and resources to a unit within the department, the Office of Special Investigations, to look for patterns of abuse and violence by officers and identify "hot spot" locations.

Recently, the governor retained WilmerHale to conduct a review of practices at Marcy and other DOCCS prisons. March said the firm's findings and recommendations will be made public once the review is complete.

Katherine Rosenfeld, an Emery Celli partner who represented Raymond, said his case is part of a broader pattern of abuse in New York state prisons, where officers repeatedly assault inmates without consequence.

"There's a systemic problem in the State Department of Corrections, with correction officers physically assaulting, abusing and killing incarcerated people," she said. "This case is an example of that problem."

While the New York City Department of Correction publishes an annual report listing civil rights lawsuits filed by incarcerated people alleging abuse, as well as payouts, DOCCS does not. March declined to say how many lawsuits have been filed over alleged correction officer abuse, nor how much money has been paid out in settlements and judgments in such cases.

Rosenfeld said the settlement awarded to Raymond is "very significant" compared with typical outcomes for incarcerated plaintiffs, many of whom file lawsuits without the help of attorneys and end up receiving payments amounting to only a few thousands dollars.

Attorneys for DOCCS offered Raymond a settlement to end his case, which dragged on for years in court as he slowly recovered from his injuries. He refused.

"They offered me $20,000 … and said I should be grateful because I'm a convicted felon," said Raymond, who was serving a sentence for burglary. "When they said that to me, I knew I would not stop."

He added, "I was willing to fight as long as I had to stick tubes in my stomach to use the bathroom. So that means for the rest of my life."

Discovery in the case unearthed a long history of abuse allegations against Mitchell. During his career, which spanned from 2002 to 2017, he was the target of at least seven lawsuits lodged by incarcerated people who accused him of using excessive force. All the suits except one, which resulted in a jury finding Mitchell not liable at trial, ended in settlements with payments to the plaintiffs ranging from $1,000 to $100,000.

Mitchell, who retired in 2018, was also among a group of officers accused by co-worker Penny Collins of sexual harassment and of creating a hostile work environment. The case ended with a jury trial finding the officers liable only for the latter, and awarding $500,000 in compensatory damages to Collins, plus $150,000 in back pay and nearly $288,000 in legal fees and costs. Taken together, the conduct by Mitchell and co-workers John Burge and Harold Graham, cost taxpayers nearly $940,000 for that case alone.

Rosenfeld said Mitchell's documented behavior "kind of makes it a paradigmatic case of how the department needs to change."

"They Shortened My Lifespan"

In mid-September 2016, after suffering a series of seizures that were the result of head trauma he suffered before his incarceration, Raymond was twice taken from Auburn Correctional Facility to a nearby hospital for evaluation. Despite being visibly disoriented from a seizure on his second day of hospitalization, he remained shackled throughout — his ankles bound and his hands locked in a "black box," a restrictive device that immobilizes movement, according to his complaint.

On Sept. 14, after Raymond suddenly sat up from his hospital bed, correction staff summoned the Corrections Emergency Response Team, or CERT, which decided to transport him back to the prison. On the way, while still restrained, he experienced another seizure and vomited inside the transport vehicle.

Once back at the prison, Raymond was taken to a small medical unit room, where he remained immobilized. After a nurse exited the room, Mitchell began to violently assault the prisoner, according to the complaint.

Mitchell waterboarded Raymond, pulling his shirt up over his face and slowly dumping a large bucket of water on his nose and mouth, causing Raymond to feel as though he was drowning. Mitchell then punched him repeatedly on and around his face, neck and chest, as four officers stood by. Later, he grabbed and twisted Raymond's testicles and penis while calling him a "stupid little bitch," causing him extreme pain, and hit him in the groin with punches and a baton, according to the complaint.

In his lawsuit, Raymond claimed that Sgt. Thomas Harte, who was present in the medical aid room with a handheld camera, either failed to record the assault or destroyed the recording before it could be made available for an investigation. DOCCS policy requires actions taken by CERT to be videotaped, Raymond said in the complaint.

According to Raymond's lawyers, in the months after the assault he endured a series of retaliatory acts from staff at Auburn, including further physical abuse, denial of urgent medical care, fabricated disciplinary charges and the destruction of his personal belongings.

Raymond's condition deteriorated until he was no longer able to urinate, prompting a transfer to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where he underwent extensive surgery in January 2017. His bladder was surgically reconstructed following his release from prison in 2020.

"Here's the best way I can describe it: 27 surgeries, two comas, continuous infection," Raymond said. "They shortened my lifespan … my doctor said that's probably what's going to take me out."

Civil Rights Lawsuit Points to Pattern of Abuse

Raymond's civil rights case began with his first complaint, which he filed Dec. 19, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. He accused eight officers, the prison's superintendent, as well as a nurse and doctor at the facility, of violating his rights under Eighth Amendment by using excessive force and being indifferent to his abuse and his medical needs.

He also claimed his due process rights under the 14th Amendment were infringed by three officers who filed false charges against him in the aftermath of his beating.

Rosenfeld, Raymond's attorney, told Law360 that the case required 28 depositions of witnesses who testified about their firsthand knowledge of the event surrounding his beating. Attorneys also deposed seven experts.

The litigation had its hurdles, she said. Emery Celli lawyers had to file multiple motions to compel the defendants, all represented by the Office of the New York State Attorney General, to produce evidence.

The case faced barriers common in prison litigation — officers backing each other up and refusing to speak out or tell the truth — which Rosenfeld referred to as "the blue wall of silence."

Pivotal testimony came from a prison nurse, Aimee Hoppins, who testified about the assault largely corroborating Raymond's version of events. Hoppins said she personally saw Harte, another defendant in the lawsuit, videotaping as Raymond was brought into the prison's exam room, where he was assaulted.
Hoppins said she was present during the filming and was later asked to leave the room by Mitchell, shortly after Raymond and Mitchell began yelling at each other. She testified that Mitchell brought the videotape to the nurse's station later that day and showed it to her.

She described watching a portion that showed Raymond having a seizure in the van during transport. She did not see video of what happened in the exam room itself.

In 2019, she told investigators from the New York Inspector General's Office that the video did exist, contradicting statements by other staff who denied it. At the investigators' request, she called Mitchell to see if he would admit the video existed. Mitchell denied it.

"I said 'Troy, you know I saw the video. Where is the video camera? You know, where is the tape?'" Hoppins testified.

"That's … not your business. That is a security issue," she recalled Mitchell saying, a transcript of her deposition shows.

Rosenfeld said the testimony of the nurse, whom she called "brave," was critical in increasing her client's leverage in the case, and likely pushed it toward the settlement.

Raymond said the nurse's statements under oath were a vindication for him, and made him feel like there was a path for him to get justice.

"I felt righteous that somebody finally told the truth after I was told over and over and over again that I was lying, and my accusations were unfounded, and I'm just a criminal," he said.

Raymond's complaint contended that he wasn't the only prisoner to have been assaulted by Mitchell, mentioning several other similar alleged incidents.

In one incident on Nov. 26, 2016, Mitchell allegedly punched and kicked Auburn prisoner Jason Berry in the groin, causing injury to his testicles. And in November 2017, another prisoner, Waddell Smith, accused Mitchell of punching him in the face while he was handcuffed in a hospital isolation room, leaving him with a serious injury to his eye. Both incidents were part of lawsuits that ended with settlements.

Mitchell and DOCCS denied Raymond's accusations against them, and moved to dismiss the case, arguing that Raymond could not prove that the officers' alleged use of force directly resulted in his long-lasting injuries.

On June 11, U.S. District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby dismissed Raymond's due process claims, but allowed those alleging excessive force to move forward, finding that testimony of experts deposed by Raymond — including that of a doctor who said the prisoner's bladder condition could not have been caused by traumas preceding the attack — to be reliable.

Raymond, who since being released has moved back into his house in Buffalo, New York, where he lives with his wife and daughter, said he was particularly outraged that Mitchell, whom the lawsuit singles out as the main perpetrator, continues to collect a state pension.

And while the settlement closed his civil case, Raymond said he feels justice is incomplete without criminal accountability for the officers and other personnel involved in his beating. None of the officers or personnel involved in his incident have been prosecuted.

"I'm going to do everything I can to see that these guys are charged," he said. "These people deserve to be tried criminally."

--Editing by Orlando Lorenzo. Graphics by Ben Jay.

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