CALDWELL, Idaho — On March 25, Seth Freeman and several other Canyon County jail inmates lined up around 7:15 p.m. to receive razors to shave.
As he was shaving, Freeman said he noticed his razor was dull and he had cut himself a few times. He heard yelling from the rest of the inmates, who said they had taken the razor covers off and found skin and hair on them.
That’s according to seven tort claims filed against the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office on May 29 through Giles and Thompson Law, PLLC, on behalf of the inmates. The seven inmates, including Freeman, involved were tested positive for hepatitis C following the razor incident, according to the tort claims.
Freeman, who is currently on probation, said he had been tested for hepatitis C around September, shortly before going to jail in December; that test had been negative.
The tort claims say Deputy Trayton Meyers provided inmates with used razors after grabbing them from the biohazard box. The claims say video and recording surveillance is believed to show admission of guilt from jail employees.
Freeman told the Idaho Press over the phone Thursday that he didn’t see Meyers get the razors from the biohazard box, but that the jail sergeant later admitted they had given them razors from the box.
The amount of the claims are unknown, according to the documents. The seven claims say the inmates “likely sustained damages in excess of the sum of $500,000, or such other amount which may be proven at trial.”
“It was really scary at first because there are a lot of things that could go wrong in that scenario,” Freeman said. “We could have gotten AIDs, hepatitis A or B. Having hepatitis C was unnerving.”
“They should be providing us with our basic necessities,” Freeman added.
Canyon County spokesman Joe Decker declined to comment, citing the county’s policy not to comment on pending notices or potential litigation.
A tort claim is not, in itself, a lawsuit. It’s simply a notice of one party’s belief that a wrong has been committed, and seeks a response.
Decker said the tort claims were tendered to Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, an insurance pool that provides property and liability insurance coverage and risk management to Idaho local governments. ICRMP has six months to decide what to do with the claims, after that the claimants can file lawsuits, Decker said.
Chip Giles, with Giles and Thompson Law, PLLC, said they had not heard a response from ICRMP as of Thursday. The county has until late November to respond.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
Rachel Spacek is the Latino Affairs reporter for the Idaho Press. You can reach her at rspacek@idahopress.com. Follow her on twitter @RachelSpacek.
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