By Nolan Clay
The Oklahoman
OKLAHOMA CITY — After being beaten at the Oklahoma County jail in 2017, inmate Maurice Dewayne Pendleton knew he was going to die.
“I’m not going to make it,” he said, according to testimony at the criminal trial for his assailants.
His family blamed his death on the county commissioners and the sheriff at the time and the “unconstitutional conditions” at the jail.
“The deadly dangers have been known to ... Oklahoma County for more than 20 years, and yet they persist,” the family’s attorneys complained in a 2018 civil rights lawsuit.
On Friday, attorneys told a federal judge the lawsuit has been settled for $1.25 million.
Still pending are more than a dozen similar lawsuits that could result in higher taxes for property owners.
Pendleton was beaten when he was left alone with other inmates on the jail’s eighth-floor basketball court.
He had just been arraigned by video on an assault charge. The other inmates were there for disciplinary hearings involving earlier incidents at the jail. The then-sheriff, P.D. Taylor, stopped using the basketball court as a holding area afterward.
“Testimony from inmate witnesses described Mr. Pendleton screaming for help and running for his life around the basketball court desperately trying to avoid these inmates,” attorneys complained in the lawsuit.
“But try as he might, Mr. Pendleton was unable to outrun them, and there were no staff members supervising to assist him. Worn down, Mr. Pendleton was captured, savagely beaten, and kicked repeatedly in the head and body as a maintenance man looked on helplessly unable to open the door.
“To further insult and humiliate Mr. Pendleton, these inmates began stripping him naked as they beat him,” the attorneys wrote. “Jailers finally arrived, but it was too late.”
Pendleton was 36 and lived in Midwest City. He was in jail because he had been accused of shooting another man in the stomach. His bail was set at $100,000.
A judge had lowered bail to $19,000, however, after his defense attorney found witnesses who said he was not the shooter. The family’s attorneys stated in the lawsuit that bond had been posted “but for reasons unknown the bond payment had been mishandled.”
He died on July 18, 2017, from a head injury at a hospital hours after the beating.
In the murder case, prosecutors claimed the beating was gang-related.
He had been asked on the basketball court what gang he was in, according to testimony. He replied he was from the Hoovers but he didn’t “gang bang” anymore.
Four inmates were accused in the attack.
A jury in 2018 found three guilty of second-degree murder. They were associated with gangs that considered the 107 Hoover Crips rivals, prosecutors alleged.
They are appealing.
The fourth inmate was acquitted.
In the civil case, county officials denied violating Pendleton’s rights but chose to settle anyway. The settlement was reached in April, records show.
“Given the circumstances ... it seemed best to settle before going to trial,” County Commissioner Brian Maughan said Friday.
He pointed out that the beating took place while the jail was managed by the sheriff.
“It is because of occurrences like this I called for the creation of a jail trust to operate the jail,” Maughan said.
The trust has had its own problems running the 13-story facility just west of downtown Oklahoma City since taking over from the sheriff’s office July 1.
In March, a detention officer was held hostage after going alone to the jail’s 10th floor. The officer was rescued after Oklahoma City police shot an inmate.
“It’s never been so understaffed,” District Attorney David Prater said the next day about the jail. “It’s never been so dangerous.”
Maughan and Commissioner Kevin Calvey have continued to express complete support for the trust.
Commissioner Carrie Blumert has voiced concerns and called on the trust to come up with a detailed plan “to keep people alive and safe.”
Taylor said Friday the beating happened not long after he became sheriff.
“They put inmates on a basketball court, unsupervised, and I was totally unaware of it,” he said Friday. “As soon as I found out, that was the end of that. They never did it again.
“Should have never happened.”
In the filing Friday in Oklahoma City federal court, Pendleton’s estate asked the judge to approve distribution of the settlement funds.
Pendleton’s father, mother, three sons and daughter will split $615,216, the judge was told. The family’s attorneys will get the rest for costs and fees. A 50% split after costs is not unusual in such cases.
An attorney for the family declined comment Friday while the request is pending.
The settlement will result in slightly higher property taxes in Oklahoma County over three years. The owner of a $150,000 home, for instance, will pay under a dollar more each year, according to calculations made for The Oklahoman by County Treasurer Butch Freeman.
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