BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

A federal lawsuit filed in October 2008 by an inmate of the Montgomery County Jail against jail officers, former Sheriff Stan Veach and Montgomery County has been settled in an out-of-court agreement.

On Dec. 8, U.S. district judge Eric Melgren signed an order that dismissed the lawsuit filed by Blanca J. Herrera, an inmate who claims she was abused with the use of a taser gun by jail officers following a May 2007 altercation with another inmate. The use of the taser gun ultimately led to her unborn child being involuntarily aborted in the jail cell where she was being held.

The lawsuit dismissal in federal court was signed after the parties involved reached to a settlement. However, details of that settlement are not being released publicly.

“The parties have settled their differences,” was the lone comment provided by Herrera’s attorney, Michael Belancio of Kansas City, Mo.

Named as defendants the lawsuit were Stanley Veach, who was sheriff at the time of the May 2007 altercation; Nick Bradford, who was a sheriff’s deputy and assigned to the Department of Corrections at that time of the alleged incident; Mario Grant, who was Department of Corrections director at the time of the alleged incident; the Montgomery County Department of Corrections; the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and Montgomery County.

The Montgomery County Chronicle made an attempt to contact J. Steven Pigg and Terelle Mock, the attorneys who represented the defendants and Montgomery County in the lawsuit.  They could not be reached for comment.

However, Paul Kritz, county counselor, said he was aware of the settlement, although details were handled by the other attorneys. He said the settlement called for Herrera to receive $5,000, far less than what she sought in her initial complaint.