Intake Captain and healthcare workers targeted in complaint for their
malicious acts designed to keep Zachary Cruz in jail illegally or held
under a fraudulent Baker Act hold, after discovery in a related matter
(Cruz v. Green) indicated their culpability.
Lawsuit Alleges:
- Defendants Held Cruz in Jail Illegally After Bail was Paid
-
Defendants Conspired to Raise Bail to Half a Million Dollars for
Skateboarding on School Property -
Defendants Acted with Malice or in Willful Indifference to Zachary
Cruz’s Constitutional Rights
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nexus Services announces it has funded a lawsuit filed by Nexus Derechos
Humanos Attorneys, Inc. today against Defendants Captain Veronica
Carroll of the Broward County Sherriff’s Office, Nurse Gayle Kite of
Armor Correctional Health, and Dr. Nelson A. Hernandez of the Broward
County Health Center to hold these defendants accountable for their
willful and malicious acts designed to keep an 18-year-old in custody
even though he had paid his bond and should have been released. Cruz’s
constitutional rights were violated in March 2018 when he was refused
discharge from Broward County Jail after he had paid his $25 bail.
The Defendants engaged in an extortive campaign of intimidation because
of the identity of Cruz’s brother. Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys,
Inc. will utilize 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as the statutory vehicle to vindicate
Cruz’s rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution.
“This is harassment under the color of law,” said Mike Donovan, CEO of
Nexus Services. “Zach’s rights must be protected by the federal courts
to assure his safety and security and to guard against
constitutional-rights abuses, which erode our basic ideals of liberty
and justice. It’s sad we must engage in more litigation, but the Broward
Sheriff’s office presents a maze of reporting relationships and
responsibilities that make it very difficult to determine who is
responsible for what area of jail operations. Through discovery in the
Green action Zach’s attorneys now have the identity of the main
offenders, and this lawsuit intends to prosecute those offenders to the
fullest extent that the law will permit, and compel the necessary
changes in policy that will finally allow Broward to put the ugliness of
these acts in history.”
Cruz, the younger brother of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, was
arrested for skateboarding on school property on March 19, 2018. After
he posted his assigned $25 bail, authorities conspired to hold Cruz in
custody by resetting his bond to an excessive $500,000, then engaged in
a crusade of intimidation and torture once he was in Broward County’s
primary jail facility.
Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys, Inc. agreed to accept Captain Green’s
settlement offer at the conclusion of the original lawsuit against
Broward County Sherriff’s Office to pursue further accountability of the
named Defendants, who are directly responsible for the cruelties and
civil rights violations endured by Cruz.
In order to prevent Zachary Cruz’s release, Defendant Carroll condoned
Defendant Kite’s maliciously initiation of proceedings to involuntary
commit Cruz under Florida’s ‘Baker Act’ on nonexistent grounds. At
Defendant Kite’s insistence, Cruz was detained in Broward County Health
Center. Defendant Hernandez, a doctor at the center, commenced
litigation to termination Cruz’s authority to make medical decisions,
operating under the baseless assumption that Cruz’s mental state must
resemble his brother’s.
After spending five days at the center, doctors decided against
prescribing Cruz psychiatric medications because Cruz did not display
signs of being a mentally disturbed person. Consequently, Cruz was
released back to the custody of Broward County Jail and Defendant
Carroll.
In sum, by unlawfully confining Cruz to jail, shipping him to a mental
health facility with no objective justification and then re-detaining
him in jail, the Defendants unsurprisingly coerced a plea deal from
Cruz, subjecting him to undue and severe duress.
Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys, Inc. is a pro bono civil-rights law
firm committed to holding public officials accountable for placing money
or politics above the lives of human beings, protecting due-process
rights to be free from government coercion and demanding justice and
enforcement of hard-won civil rights. http://www.ndhlawyers.com/
Nexus Services, Inc. is a leading provider of immigrant bail
securitization and prisoner reentry services. The organization funds
Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys, Inc. as a part of its corporate giving
to increase access to justice for disadvantaged people across the United
States. http://www.nexushelps.com/
Contacts
Nexus Services Inc.
Crimson Solano
(540) 569-8241
[email protected]
