A 32-year-old former inmate who claims he injured his knee while climbing down from his prison bunk bed is suing the state of Oregon for $49,637.
In a lawsuit filed Friday, Mitchell Ray Johnston claims the Oregon Department of Corrections was negligent in failing to provide ladders or another safe way for inmates to climb on and off of bunks at the Columbia River Correctional Institution in Northeast Portland.
Johnston, of Beaverton, was serving an 18-month sentence for credit card fraud at the 595-bed minimum security prison. On Aug. 28, 2012, he claims he "was attempting to get off of his upper bunk when his foot slipped, causing ... a torn ACL and meniscus tear to his knee," his suit states.
Johnston was released about two months later, then underwent surgery in January 2013 -- racking up $28,637 in medical bills, according to his suit.
Johnston’s suit is seeking reimbursement for those bills, as well as $21,000 for pain, suffering, interference with everyday activities and his inability to take part in recreational activities.
The suit is relatively rare in Oregon -- most inmates settle their disputes through the prison grievance process or by filing claims with the state's risk management department.
Johnston's suit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court by Portland attorney Lynn Walsh. Walsh represented a former Multnomah County jail inmate who in January settled with the county for $260,000 after he claimed that his foot became swollen and infected after jailers refused to let him wear special shoes.
-- Aimee Green