Southern California's Orange County has agreed to pay $480,000 to an inmate who was pregnant however suffered a miscarriage after sheriff's deputies stopped at a Starbucks whereas driving her to a hospital. Sandra Quinones, who's not in custody, alleged in a federal lawsuit that sheriff's workers delayed therapy after her water broke within the jail.
County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously permitted the fee, however Quinones should formally settle for the settlement earlier than it turns into closing, the Orange County Register reported.
"That is an excellent outcome for somebody badly handled within the jail," her lawyer, Dick Herman, advised the Register. "This poor lady, she's in jail having a miscarriage and, as an alternative of calling an ambulance, they take her to the hospital in a patrol automobile and the cops cease at Starbucks whereas she's bleeding."
Herman mentioned Quinones is homeless and mentally ailing.
"The Orange County jail is able to sinking to the bottom depths," Herman advised the Los Angeles Instances. "Sadly this isn't the one event."
The lawsuit mentioned no jail workers responded for 2 hours after Quinones pushed a name button in her cell when her water broke on March 28, 2016.
Then as an alternative of being put in an ambulance, Quinones was given a journey to a hospital in a patrol automobile, however not till deputies stopped for espresso, the lawsuit alleged.
Quinones was hospitalized, however the fetus didn't survive, in keeping with court docket filings.
Sheriff's officers declined to touch upon the settlement.
The lawsuit accused deputies of performing with "deliberate indifference" towards Quinones' civil rights and her medical situation, the Register mentioned.
The lawsuit was initially dismissed by a federal court docket in 2020 however reinstated by the ninth U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals in 2021, the Instances reported.
"She doggedly pursued this case, together with all of its ups and downs," Herman advised the newspaper. "This was an extended, exhausting battle. We're glad that this reached a profitable conclusion."