Inmate Wins Suit Over Beating at Pr. George's Jail

Man Says Guard Hit Him Needlessly

A Prince George's County civil jury awarded $32,500 this month to an inmate who was beaten by a county jail guard in August 2007.

After a trial that lasted a little more than a day, the jury found May 7 that William Rorls, who at the time was a corporal, committed battery on Prince E. Jones, 25. The jury delivered a split verdict, deciding that Rorls did not engage in excessive force.

The jury awarded Jones $25,000 in compensatory damages, or money aimed at covering the costs associated with the beating, and $7,500 in punitive damages, meant to punish the officer for his behavior, said Jason L. Levine, Jones's attorney in the civil case.

When Rorls threw Jones to the ground during the encounter Aug. 21, 2007, in the county jail in Upper Marlboro, Jones's chin was split, which required 16 stitches to repair, Levine said.

Reached at the jail Friday, Rorls, now a sergeant, said he needed clearance from supervisors before he could comment. Later in the afternoon, Rorls said the supervisor was not available. Michon Parker, a spokeswoman for the county Department of Corrections, said the department had no comment.

Associate County Attorney Timothy W. Fitzmaurice, who defended Rorls and the county against the lawsuit, said the county is considering appealing the verdict.

According to court papers and evidence presented in court by Levine and Fitzmaurice, both sides agreed on the events leading up to the incident that left Jones injured:

Jones was afraid of other inmates and wanted to be put in protective custody. About 10 p.m., he was ordered to go into his cell for a lockdown, in which all inmates in the housing unit are locked into their cells. He refused and sat on the floor in the housing unit's common area, near a desk used by jail officers. Levine characterized this as "passive resistance."

Officers from the Emergency Response Team, the jail's SWAT unit, were summoned. Jones was handcuffed without incident and taken to the medical unit to be examined. After the exam, he was escorted to another housing unit, where he was to be placed in a cell by himself.

At this point, the accounts of Jones and Rorls diverge.

Levine provided this account of Jones's testimony: Jones was ordered to put his hands against the wall of the cell while officers searched him, and he complied. But Rorls had squeezed Jones's hands and wrists while walking him to the cell, and when the officer ordered Jones to hand over his shoes, he was unable to do so because his hands hurt. Rorls slammed Jones to the ground and struck him with his fist and arm.

Levine said that this portion of the encounter was videotaped by an officer from the SWAT team and that the videotape supported Jones's version and became a key piece of evidence for him.

But Fitzmaurice said Rorls testified that when Jones said he could not hand over his shoes, he took his right hand off the cell wall and turned toward Rorls, who perceived the move as a threat. That prompted Rorls to forcibly subdue Jones, Fitzmaurice said. When Jones hit the ground, Rorls testified, the inmate's arms were beneath his body. Rorls testified that he struck Jones's right shoulder area to get Jones to bring up his right arm for handcuffing.

Another officer sprayed Jones with a foam pepper spray, and Jones was handcuffed, according to testimony.