A Court of Claims judge has rejected the pro se claim of a homosexual state prison inmate who says he was housed with a sexual predator who raped him. The inmate, a self-described snitch who had been placed in protective custody on nine different occasions in eight different prisons since 1996, alleged that he is a victim-prone prisoner who was negligently housed with a predatory Bloods gang member. Judge W. Brooks DeBow (See Profile) said the attack was not reasonably foreseeable and found “no credible corroborating evidence” of the cellmate’s alleged gang affiliation, no evidence that the assailant had previously threatened or was a known enemy of the claimant and “no corroborating evidence” that the assailant was a sexual predator.
“Claimant argues that because his requests for [voluntary protective custody] had been granted on some prior occasions, and because he identifies as a victim-prone inmate, any attack against him would be forseeable,” DeBow wrote. “This argument is flawed in two respects. First, it asserts an overly broad scope of foreseeability of harm in the prison context that would render defendant an insurer of claimaint’s safety. Second, the argument that defendant knew he was generally victim-prone’ and therefore at risk of being attacked is not supported by the evidence at trial.” Assistant Attorney General Michael Rizzo defended the state in Anonymous v. State, 113033.
