Family Files Lawsuit Against Multiple Huerfano County Entities For Man’s 2023 In-Custody Death
HUERFANO County, Colo. — A family has filed a lawsuit against multiple Huerfano County entities and officials, alleging that their loved one was left to die from injuries he sustained from a corrections officer while in custody in 2023.
Rathod | Mohamedbhai LLC and The Law Offices of Adam J. Schultz filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Estate of Michael John Burch. The document names Huerfano County’s board of commissioners, sheriff’s office and hospital district, along with Health Care Partners Foundation Inc., Sheriff Bruce Newmann and eight other individuals.
“Yesterday, on March 26th we filed a lawsuit in federal court in the District of Colorado on behalf of the estate of Burch, to give Michael Burch a voice to vindicate his constitutional rights and to seek accountability against those who killed him in the most unimaginably painful way possible,” said attorney Omeed Azmoudeh during a press conference on Thursday.
Attorneys said Michael Burch, 69, was a retired correctional officer and was experiencing a mental health crisis when he was taken to the Huerfano County Detention Center on March 25, 2023. Burch was arrested after he went to the home of someone he did not know and swung a mallet.
According to the attorneys, on March 28, 2023, Burch was “pummeled… into a metal bench” by Detention Officer Stuart Pino for holding a pencil.
“They say, ‘Drop it or we will drop you.’ And in response, Mr. Burch makes no verbal threats, no aggressive movements with the pencil. [He] doesn’t advance towards the officers. In fact, he backpedals into the corner,” Azmoudeh said.
Edited surveillance video provided by the law firms shows an officer, who was identified as Pino, tase and body-slam Burch.
“Officer Pino grabs Mr. Burch’s hands out of the air, pushes him backwards, slams him into a metal bench with enough power to break six of Mr. Birch’s ribs,” said Azmoudeh. “The autopsy report would later describe them as widely displaced, which means they were broken clean in half.”
The ribs punctured several organs and caused massive internal bleeding, according to the law firms.
At one point, Burch reportedly told Pino and Captain Lea Vigil, Pino’s supervisor on scene, “My ribs are crushed… all the ribs are into my body.” When asked if he needed to go to the hospital, Burch allegedly said, “Oh yeah, man, I want to go.” However, Burch was not taken to the hospital and was not offered medical treatment, according to Azmoudeh.
“Between March 28, the day of the use of force, and April 4, 2023, Mr. Burch receives no medical treatment. He’s locked in a cell. The officers cover it with black plastic to save themselves the inconvenience of watching him suffer,” Azmoudeh said
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