Guard Appeals Verdict in Fatal Prison Fight

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal appeals court has rescheduled for Sept. 23 oral arguments in an appeal filed by a Mississippi prison guard who was cited for recklessness during a 2007 fight in which an inmate died and two others were injured.

Corrections officer Sharon Hampton and others were sued by the family of slain inmate Donald Reed Jr. and the injured inmates in 2008.

In 2012, a federal jury in Aberdeen, Mississippi, ordered Hampton – the only defendant left – to pay $25,000 to each of the two injured inmates and $100,000 to Reed’s family.

The award was upheld in April by a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In July, the full 5th Circuit said it would hear Hampton’s appeal. Oral arguments will be heard in New Orleans.