In 2013, Mario Mujica, then 29 years old, was erroneously released prematurely from prison after serving all but a week of a negotiated plea agreement to serve six months for a drug offense. On October 28, 2013, he voluntarily surrendered himself and was taken to the Nassau County Correctional Facility.
After he’d been processed on the day of his surrender, Mujica and a corrections officer got into a verbal altercation which promptly escalated into a physical altercation with three officers that left Mujica injured.
Mujica sued Nassau County and the officers for battery claiming that their use of force was unlawful; the officers claimed that their use of force was in response to plaintiff’s argumentative and combative behavior.
The jury found in favor of the plaintiff and awarded him pain and suffering damages in the sum of $310,000 ($150,000 past – 4.5 years, $160,000 future – eight years). In Mujica v. Nassau County Correctional Facility (2d Dept. 2024), the appellate court affirmed both the liability and the damages verdicts.
Here are the injury details:
- Fractured Rib
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and left wrist De Quervain’s tenosynovitis requiring release surgeries on both wrists and a tendon release surgery
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder “(“PTSD”)
There was extensive medical testimony on both sides. Two psychiatrists and a hand surgeon testified for the plaintiff; a psychiatrist and a neurologist testified for the defense.
Inside Information:
- Plaintiff’s post-trial motion seeking an increase in the damages awards was denied.
- The defense neurologist opined that plaintiff did not sustain PTSD adding: “He insulted an officer, the officer interacted back with him. He found himself on he floor. The rest is what followed. It’s not like he was so traumatized that it would have caused it.”