DU law clinic sues Colorado Dept. of Corrections - The Denver Post

DU law clinic sues Colorado Dept. of Corrections - The Denver Post

The University of Denver Law Clinic filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Colorado Department of Corrections, alleging a prison failed to give adequate medical care to an inmate who vomited blood for days.

The suit claims Matthew Mallory, 29, of Lochbuie did not see a doctor for four days and was "subjected to cruel and unusual punishment" in October 2009 when he was jailed at Centennial Correctional Facility in Cañon City.

"After days of suffering, Matt collapsed to the concrete floor of his pod after an officer refused to help him get his food. Matt had to undergo an emergency procedure to repair a hole in his intestines the size of a quarter," according to a press release from the university.

He was hospitalized for 10 days.

Mallory served five years in prison for car theft, trespassing and receiving stolen goods from November 2005 to April 2010, when he was released on parole, according to court records.

The suit against the prison system and its administrators seeks an unspecified amount of money for compensatory and punitive damages.

The case was brought by Anika Sjoholm and Dorothy Whitehead, students at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law Civil Rights Clinic, who are supervised by attorneys Brittany Glidden and Laura Rovner.

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