Ramsey County pays $3 million to settle lawsuit by homeless woman who charged jailers injured her

Ramsey County has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by a homeless woman who was allegedly assaulted by corrections officers in the county jail, breaking her leg, then placed in shackles as she writhed in pain for 17 hours before being taken to the hospital.

The $3 million payout covers attorneys' fees, legal and court costs, and compensatory damages, said Richard Student, an attorney with Meshbesher & Associates, which represented the woman.

Under the settlement, Ramsey County denied liability, her attorneys said, and U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson dismissed the case. County officials including Sheriff Bob Fletcher, who oversees the jail, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The woman, Miri Monique Mozuch-Stafford, 30, whose father is Black and mother is white, was homeless at the time, according to Student. He said he did not know whether she has since found housing.

Mozuch-Stafford was arrested in the early morning hours of Feb. 8, 2021, by St. Paul police at a hotel where she had attempted to find shelter for the night and allegedly engaged in disorderly conduct, Student said.

While being led into a holding cell, the suit alleged, a corrections officer made a comment and Mozuch-Stafford began to "engage the officer verbally."

According to Student, four officers "pulled and pushed in different directions and punched [her] in the face … while Ms. Mozuch-Stafford was handcuffed behind her back, compliant, and not actively or passively resisting." He said he saw nothing in the cell video that suggested she was being uncooperative.

Student said that Mozuch-Stafford was left in the cell, "still in handcuffs and leg shackles, and screaming in agony." Sometime later, he said, two corrections officers dragged her from the floor of the cell to a concrete bench and laid her down even though she was obviously injured.

The suit alleged that despite Mozuch-Stafford's "obvious excruciating pain," the officers twisted her legs and shackled them, one commenting that she "wasn't going anywhere" because of her injuries. They removed the shackles two hours later. Video showed her crawling around the cell, repeatedly trying to reach the sink to drink some water without success, according to the suit.

Dr. Michele Van Vranken, described in the suit as a physician employed by Ramsey County to provide medical care to jail detainees, examined Mozuch-Stafford and found that her left knee and lower leg had swollen 4 to 5 inches beyond the size of her uninjured right leg. Van Vranken wrote a note indicating that Mozuch-Stafford should be taken to the emergency room if she were released, but given an X-ray and MRI scan if not.

Mozuch-Stafford was put in a wheelchair, but Student said she should have been rushed instead to Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

"Ms. Mozuch-Stafford was left to suffer alone in her cell until approximately 9:30 p.m. at which time her transport to Regions Hospital was finally ordered," according to the suit. The delay resulted in a new injury, Student said, described as "compartment syndrome," which is an increase in pressure within the muscles, restricting blood flow.

Doctors performed surgery on her leg, repairing the broken bone and severed artery, but the leg "is severely disfigured," Student said. "And it could have been avoided if she had been treated promptly." Mozuch-Stafford has disabilities with respect to weight-bearing and range of motion in her left leg, he said.

Ramsey County, Van Vranken and six corrections officers were listed as defendants in the suit.

Mozuch-Stafford's attorneys, Student and Steven Meshbesher, said they were notified in January by the FBI that the agency was investigating whether their client was the victim of a crime. "I believe it is still an active investigation," Student said Tuesday.