Civigenics faces multiple suits

A Midland man who claims he was beaten into submission while jailed in the Odessa Detention Center has not given up a years-long effort to be compensated for what he said was the use of excessive force after he ran out of his cell.

Larry Wesley Brown, a federal prisoner serving more than four years on a conviction of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, sought $8 million in damages from Civigenics — a private company also known as Community Education Centers — that operates the detention center — for injuries he said occurred while he was awaiting trial in July 2007. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice in March, but this month, Brown appealed the district court’s decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Brown, 55, writes in court filings that he is a former Army medic with a “well-documented history of psychological problems.” Among other disorders, Brown said he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

Brown’s claim against the detention center stems from a scuffle with several prison guards after — in what he called a “delusional episode” — he repeatedly shouted for help from his cell and then bolted into the hallway once the door was opened.

“At the time I believed that I was a member of the British royal family and was mistakenly being held in the bowels of a military ship,” Brown said in a sworn affidavit. “From within the cell, I continued to scream for help, and I yelled for the guard to contact the Queen.”

Brown said he suffered a number of injuries when he was detained, including several broken teeth.

“Community Education Centers is satisfied with the judge’s ruling and confident it will survive on appeal,” said Christopher Greeder, a spokesman for the detention center.

In a separate case, Civigenics was sued by another former inmate who blames the detention center for the loss of his eyesight. Colby E. Miller of Odessa claims in a federal lawsuit that Civigenics guards negligently allowed a fellow inmate to obtain a broom.

Miller’s attorney, Robert Swafford of Austin, said in the lawsuit that the inmate struck Miller in the eye with the broomstick, causing him to permanently lose his sight.

Greeder declined to comment on the Miller case, citing the pending litigation. No trial date has been set in the Miller case.