WTO Secured Historic $1.1 Million Pro Bono Settlement for Inmate

WTO lawyers represented a prisoner who was stabbed 43 times, and nearly killed by three other inmates in a brutal assault in 2017. WTO’s client had been disclosed as a cooperating witness in the murder prosecution of a white supremacist prison gang leader. Following numerous death threats, our client filed multiple requests to transfer into protective custody. Corrections officials denied each request.  

WTO’s client sued the corrections officers and prison officials involved in federal court in 2018. Although the client initially represented himself, WTO took on the case pro bono in early 2023, deposed all of the officers and prison officials involved, and retained an expert witness to support the client’s claims. 

At the defendants’ request, WTO and its client agreed to a last ditch mediation attempt on the eve of trial. Through WTO’s determined negotiation, the defendants ultimately agreed to pay $1,100,000 to settle our client’s claims. The victory is one of the highest settlements ever paid by a state corrections department in Colorado history.