Family of man who died in jail files suit

Relatives of a man who died in the Churchill County Jail in 2004 allege medical malpractice, wrongful death and infliction of emotional distress in a lawsuit filed in the Third District Court in Fallon.

The suit names Churchill County, the sheriff's office, Sheriff Richard Ingram, Banner Churchill Community Hospital and three medical professionals who treated Stanley Wayne Brown in the hospital emergency room.

Brown, of Fernley, was an inmate in the Churchill County Jail when he was found dead in a jail cell two days after being booked into custody Nov. 10, 2004, on suspicion of trying to cash checks on a closed bank account. He was also accused of being under the influence of methamphetamine.

A Washoe County coroner's report concluded that Brown died from a lethal dose of methadone and methamphetamine. The methadone was prescribed by a doctor at the hospital after Brown allegedly told authorities he was being treated with the drug for a heroin addiction at a Reno methadone clinic.

After Brown's death, authorities learned he was not a heroin addict and not being treated in Reno for heroin withdrawal. Methadone is a narcotic strictly regulated by the Drug Enforcement Agency when used to treat addiction.

Reno pathologist Dr. Ellen Clark determined that the levels of methadone prescribed for Brown, and administered by detention deputies, was sufficient to have caused his death.

Ingram said last year he believes Brown deliberately misled the sheriff's department and medical authorities to obtain narcotics so he could commit suicide.

Anna J. Amaral, Brown's mother; his sisters Victoria McGough and Marilyn S. Harrison and his brother, Jeffery Brown, filed the complaint in March. They hired Reno attorney Paul E. Quade to represent them in the suit.

Quade said in late April that the family still has not been provided with a copy of the autopsy report after numerous written and oral requests for the document. Quade said the Washoe County Coroner's Office won't release the autopsy report because it is now the property of Churchill County.

Attorneys for the defendants have denied all the claims and asked the suit be dismissed.

"Our position is it should be left to a jury to decide," Quade said.

According to the complaint, Brown was prescribed morphine, insulin, methadone and oxycontin when he was taken to Banner Churchill Community Hospital to determine if he was fit for incarceration.

"That combination of drugs really concerns me. It makes no sense," Quade said.

Quade said he listed three medical professionals - Dr. John Van Horn, Dr. Leo Bunuel-Jordana and physician assistant Michael J. Forrest - in the complaint because he does not yet know which person prescribed which medication, or whether those drugs were administered at the emergency room or the jail.

The suit contends the county and sheriff's department breached their duties by not providing adequate medical care while Brown was incarcerated, and he died of unnatural causes.