A man who pleaded guilty to a federal charge he faced for shooting himself in the Cole County Jail in 2019 is now suing Sheriff John Wheeler and his department for inadequate medical care.
In October, Brandon McNeese, 36, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, the shooting occurred Nov. 25, 2019, and McNeese suffered a wound to his upper left arm.
In his lawsuit filed in Cole County Circuit Court, McNeese alleges Wheeler and his staff were "obligated to train supervise, direct and control all institutional medical and nursing personnel."
McNeese said he was shot and he was located in a holding pod. Two individuals walked into the pod, "there after it was brought to Cole County Jail that the plaintiff (McNeese) had been shot," according to the lawsuit.
According to federal court documents, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms obtained a video and phone call recordings from the sheriff's office of the jail pod area where the shooting took place.
A half-hour before the shooting, McNeese and another inmate left their cell, but left the door partially open. After a couple of minutes, McNeese went back into the cell and left the door open. The video showed a few inmates came into and out of the cell.
About five minutes into the video, authorities said a bang is heard in the background. An inmate peeks inside the cell McNeese was seen going into earlier, but he does not enter. Another inmate closes the door to the cell.
A couple of minutes later, two inmates came out of the cell and shut the door behind them, then both stand by the door. About a minute later, a loud noise was heard on a telephone recording.
The two males at the cell door walked away and into the common area of the jail pod.
The door to McNeese's cell opened partially and McNeese was seen sliding something with his foot out of the cell and into the corner of the open area just outside his door. McNeese then went back into the cell and shut the door. Another loud noise was heard at this point on the telephone recording.
A guard arrived and went to McNeese's cell and saw the firearm, a 22-caliber pistol, outside the cell door. The guard opened the cell and found McNeese alone in the cell with a gunshot wound.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone convicted of a felony to possess any firearm or ammunition. McNeese has a prior federal felony conviction for possessing crack cocaine with intent to distribute.
This incident led to the Cole County Commission approving the purchase of a body scanner for the jail in December 2019 at a cost of $166,250. It went into operation in February 2020.
Wheeler said the body scanner is intended to be used only on inmates; however, staff could scan employees or visitors if they felt there was a reason.
Jailers do not carry firearms in the jail, the sheriff noted.
McNeese's lawsuit alleges the sheriff's department "owed duties to the plaintiff (McNeese) to confine him in a careful and prudent manner and to exercise the highest degree of care in the operation of the jail."
The lawsuit also claims the sheriff and his staff failed to properly conduct searches of inmates, jail staff and other employees when exiting and entering the jail, and failed to properly manage the exiting and entering of individuals at the jail.
"The shooting of the plaintiff (McNeese) was the product of official policies, procedures, practices, customs and actions collectively promulgated, tacitly authorized, and/or observed by the defendants," the lawsuit states.
McNesse said he can file the lawsuit because the sheriff's department is subject to liability and state statute waives sovereign or government immunity in cases like this one, "directly resulting from negligent acts by public employees."
McNeese is requesting no less than $25,000 for damage suffered and any additional relief the court sees fit along with more than $25,000 for punitive damages, which by definition would be awarded if a defendant's behavior is found to be especially harmful to the plaintiff.
The lawsuit has been assigned to Judge Cotton Walker, but no court date has been set.