The Family of a Woman that Was Injured in Jail and Later Died is Awarded $10 Million

A federal jury in Utah on Friday July 27, 2022 awarded $10 million in damages to the family of 28-year-old Heather Ashton Miller, who fell in her Davis County Jail cell in 2016 and later died on her way to the hospital after a jail nurse brushed off her injuries.

Miller arrived at the jail on Dec. 20, 2016, on misdemeanor complaints of possessing drug paraphernalia and drugs. At 10:06 p.m. the next day, Miller was pronounced dead mere hours after a fall from the top bunk of her cell when she ruptured her spleen.  It was not claimed or expected that a ruptured spleen be diagnosed specifically, but Miller could not walk or sand after the fall.  Medical personnel at the jail did not offer any medical attention.  They did not even take vital signs, and never checked on her after moving her to a cell with a lower bunk.  Medical personnel testified that they assumed Miller was withdrawing from meth, even though she had been in open and active circulation in the jail prior to her fall and exhibited no withdrawal symptoms.  She was not withdrawing but autopsy revealed low levels of meth in her system.

The jail had no written medical procedures to follow, having discarded them years earlier and chose to not replace them. The jail operated without nurse training other than requiring that nurses keep their licenses current.

The jury ruled that jail nurse Marvin Anderson was “deliberately indifferent” to Miller’s medical needs after the fall. The jury also found that Davis County was liable for her death because it didn’t provide adequate training or protocols for caring for inmates’ medical problems.

Tad D. Draper, of the Law Offices of Tad D. Draper P.C., represented the family of Heather Ashton Miller.