Associated Press
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A District Court judge has revoked a $1.35 million damage award in the November 2009 alcohol withdrawal death of a Hays-Lodgepole teen who had been held in the Hill County jail in Havre.
The Great Falls Tribune reports District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock last week vacated a Montana Human Rights Commission ruling in the case of 18-year-old A.J. Longsoldier.
Sherlock found significant procedural irregularities in the Human Rights Commission’s execution of the case and the commission agreed the judgment should be revoked and the commission removed from the case.
The estate of A.J. Longsoldier can appeal Sherlock’s decision to the Montana Supreme Court.
His estate filed a complaint against Hill and Blaine counties, saying Longsoldier did not receive adequate treatment for alcohol withdrawal while he was being held on a contempt of court charge.