Carson City supervisors Thursday will vote on whether to pay $30,000 to a man who claimed he was brutalized by a jail deputy in 2006 after being arrested on a robbery charge.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in March 2008, Bret Court, 33, alleges that now-retired Jail Deputy Charles Farrell punched him in the nose and backhanded him across the face while Court was handcuffed to a chair. Court claims he was denied medical attention.
Court names Farrell, Sheriff Ken Furlong and 10 unidentified individuals. Court also alleges Furlong failed to train deputies on the proper use of force; that Farrell committed felony battery, and that each defendant acted with indifference to Court's condition by denying him medical attention, medication and showers.
Court was arrested March 28, 2006, after allegedly robbing a man at knifepoint during a suspected drug deal in a gas station parking lot on Carson Street.
Court was arrested at Roop and Park streets on suspicion of felony robbery, failure to register as a felon and misdemeanor possession of a marijuana. The robbery and failure to register charges were dismissed. Court pleaded guilty to the marijuana possession charge, according to court records.
Furlong said the incident was captured on video. He said he needed to speak with the District Attorney's Office to determine if he could release it.
Calls to Court's attorney, Don Evans of Reno, were not immediately returned Tuesday. It's unclear where Court, a convicted felon, is living at this time. Furlong speculated that Court is in custody in another jurisdiction.
Farrell, a 22-year-veteran of the Sheriff's Department, was placed on administrative leave at the time of the incident, an internal investigation was opened and one day later he submitted his letter of resignation, said Furlong.
Farrell, reached at his home Tuesday afternoon, declined comment.
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