.LEGAL YEA CERTEFIED MAIL I March 9, 2019 John M. Mitnick, General Counsel Office of the General Counsel US. Department of Homeland Security 245 Murray Lane, SW Maii Stop 0485 Washington, DC 20528~0485 RE: Claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act Due to Injury and Damages Resulting from Inadequate Medical Care at ICE Processing Center in Aurora, Colorado Dear Mr. Mitnick, I write on behalf of my client Rene Lima Marin, who suffered for months on account of inadequate medical care he received while he was detained at the US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Aurora, Colorado. Mr. Lima Marin brings a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act 28 U.S.C. 2671, et 569., for the resulting signi?cant damages he suffered while in the custody of the United States Government, acting through ICE and its agents. A completed Standard Form 95 signed by Mr. Lima Marin is enclosed, along with an attachment to the 8395. Thank you for~ your attention to this matter. Please contact me at 970.250.4221 or danielleQDnovo-legal.com if you need. any additional information. Sincerely,m . Jfferis, Esq. OfCoansel Enci: Standard Form 95 and SF ~95 Attachment CC: Office of the Principal Legal Adviser US. immigration and Customs Enforcement 500 12th Street SW, Floor 9 Washington, DC 20536-5098 Denver Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office US. Immigration and. Customs Enforcement 12445 East Caiey Avenue Centennial, CO 80121 4280 MORRISON RD TEL: BOB-33543250 DENVER CO 80219 1400?} AVE, SUITE 112 AURORA CO 80014 CLAIM FOR DAMAGE INSTRUCTIONS: mam read cammuy the msuuwons an me mm APPROVED revewse 5 tie and supply requasltd am pm sues a! this 0MB No 1105-0008 INJURY, 0R DEATH mm Use addmona' smells} :1 necessary 5a? reverse smemv amm 2 Name '53. an Vex/avan mm Sheet my Sula mm 5 Department of Homeland Secumy Rene lea Main 245 Murray Lane, sw do DamsHe Jeflens' Novo Lega' Group Mall sum was 4230 Momsan Road DC 20525-0455 Denver 00 50219 3 was or EMPLOVMENT 4 mm or 5mm 5 srArus magma rm oncmozm 7 of? M) [1 mm mm named 02/07/2013 5 OF CLNM (Staten: mg knawn was and mmurmunmx aflur'flmq we damflac wary or Gum nevsars and Wwve'IY muse meva mm>> pages mafia/y) See attached letter 3 pnovsrm was: NAME my ADDWESS or OWNER. urns>> mm (Numbfit Sveefi my snare and Ccde} NONE Emmy uEscRuaE m: AND :xvzm orm: DAMAGE mu ms Locum o; MERE m2 vnoamv my a: (See my my" my NONE a PERSONAL DEAYH STAYE ms NATURE AND OF EACH 0R muss or mm M4ch Palms ms was a; w: mm omsn mm cwwm. we NAME 0; ms mum) mason 0R See attached letter. WImEssEs NAME swu my sm. bpcude) GEO Detention Cemer sfiaff 3130 North Oak'and Street Jeflrey Peterson Aurora' CO 80010 .2 (5.5 rzvz'la; or cum w. mum) mom?" DAMAGE 12:; meow mum monem mm>> mlyuusn imam": o~ yam "gm, 0 00 0 00 1 000000 mu m: Amount 0: cum COVERS mamas AND CAUSED Ev w: mums>>: ABOVE mo AGREE ACCEPT 04 run sAnsFAcYm mo mm 0F nus cum. t3: 7' (Says Humans or rzvevse 5:69) NONE NUMEER OF FORM DAVE OF -- sw--m Ammnzeu (or Local Rapvmummn us" muorsaum STANDARD FORM 95 2mm) Pvevms Eamon '5 nm Usame FRESCWBED av am or )usnce 95409 COVERAGE in order that subrogation claims may be adjudicated. it is essentiai that the claimant provide the foilowing information regarding the insurance coverage of the vehicie or property. 15. Do you carry accident insurance? '3 Yes NONE if yes. give name and address of insurance company (Number. Street. City. State. and Zip Code} and policy number. No TS. Have you filed a claim with your insurance carrier in this instance. and it so. is it fuil coverage or deductible? NONE if deductible. state amount. Yes No 18. if a claim has been filed with your carrier. what action has your insurer taken or proposed to take with reference to your claim? {it is necessary that you ascertain these facts}. NONE 19. Do you carry public liability and property damage insurance? Yes it yes, give name and address of insurance carrier (Number, Street. City, State, and Zip Code}. No NONE Ciaims presented under the Federal Tort Claims Act should be submitted directiy to the "appropriate Fedora! agency? whose employee(s} was involved in the incident. If the incident invoives more than one claimant, each claimant should submit a separate ctaim form. Complete all items - insert the word NONE where applicable. A SHALL BE DEEMED TO HAVE BEEN PRESENTED WHEN A FEDERAL AGENCY FROM A CLAEMANT, Hi8 DULY AUTHORIZED AGENT. OR LEGAL REPRESENTATWE. AN EXECUTED STANDARD FORM 95 OR OTHER WRETTEN OF AN ACCOMPANJED BY A CLAihii FOR MONEY Failure to comptetely execute this form or to supply the requested materiai within two years from the date the claim accrued may render your claim invalid. A claim is deemed presented when it is received by the appropriate agency. not when it is mailed. if instruction is needed in completing this form, the agency tisted in item #1 on the reverse side may be contacted. Complete reguiations pertaining to ciaiins asserted under the Federai Tort Ciaims Act can be round in Title 28. Code of Federal Regulations. Part 14. Many agencies have published supplementing regulations. if more than one agency is involved. please state each agency. The claim may be filled by a duty authorized agent or other legal representative. provided evidence satisfactory to the Government is-submitted with the claim establishing express authority to act for the ciaimant. A claim presented by an agent or iegal representative must be presented in the name of the ciaimant. lithe claim is signed by the agent or iegai representative, it must show the title or legal capacity of the person signing and be accompanied by evidence or hisiher authority to present a claim on behalf of the claimant as agent. executor. administrator. parent, guardian or other representative. if claimant intends to file for both personal injury and property damage, the amount for each must be shown in item number 12 of this form. INJURY. OR DEATH ALLEGED TO HAVE OCCURRED BY REASON OF THE THE CLAEM MUST BE PRESENTED TO THE FEDERAL AGENCY The amount ciaimed shouid be substantiated by competent evidence as follows: In support of the claim for personal injury or death. the claimant should submit a written report by the attending physician, showing the nature and extent of the injury, the nature and extent of treatment. the degree of permanent if any, the prognosis. and the period or hospitatization, or incapacitation. attaching itemized bills for medical, hospital. or buriai expenses actuaiiy incurred. (by in support of ciaims for damage to property. which has been or can be economically repaired. the claimant shouid submit at least two itemized signed statements or estimates by reliable. disinterested concerns. or. if payment has been made. the itemized signed receipts evidencing payment. in support of claims for damage to property which is not economicaiiy repairable. or if the property is iost or destroyed. the claimant should submit statements as to the originai cost of the property, the date of purchase. and the vaiue of the property. both before and after the accident. Such statements shouid be by disinterested competent persons. preferably reputable dealers or ofticiais familiar with the type of property damaged. or by two or more competitive bidders, and should be certified as being just and correct. Failure to specify a sum certain will render your claim invalid and may result in forfeiture of your rights. PREVACY ACT NOTICE This Notice is provided in accordance with the Privacy Act, 5 USC. 552a(e)(3). and concerns the information requested in the letter to which this Notice is attached. A. Authority: The requested information is solicited pursuant to one or more of the following: 5 U.S.C. 301. 28 USE. 501 et seq. 28 et seq. 28 GER. Part 14. B. Principal Purpose: The information requested is to be used in evaiuating claims. 0. Routine Use: See the Notices of Systems of Records for the agency to whom you are submitting this form for this information. En?ectofFaiiurero Respond: Disciosure is voluntary. However. suppiythe requested information or to execute the form may render your ciaim "invalid." PAPERWORK ACT NOTICE This notice is sgieiy for the purpose of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501. Public re Branch. Attention: Paperwork Reduction Staff, Civil Division. US. Department of Justice. Was form(s) to these addresses. porting burden for this coliection of information is estimated to average 6 hours per 'ng and maintaining the data needed, and compieting and reviewing the coiiection of 'on of information. including suggestions for reducing this burden. to the Director. Torts hington. DC 20530 or to the Office of Management and Budget. Do not mail completed STANDARD FORM 95 REV. (2:200?) BACK .. LEG AL. March 9, 2019 SEWS Attachment~? Claimant Ren? Lima Marin 7. Time (AWE. or RM.) Mr. Lima Marin estimates he first sustained the injury giving rise to this claim around 6:00 pm. on February 7, 2018. The extreme pain and suffering he endured as a result of the conduct of ICE employees and/or agents, as well as other damages, began at that-point and continues through the present. 8. Basis of Claim Factual Basis for Claims Mr. Lima Marin was arrested and detained in the Aurora ICE Processing Center (?Aurora? or ?Aurora detention center?) in May 2017 in connection with a deportation order tied to a criminal conviction, in spite Of a full pardon of that conviction from Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. On February 7, 2018, he slipped and fell in the detention center while wearing the paper-thin slippers provided to detainees, and slammed his face on the edge of the steel toilet in his cell. As he stood up, dazed, he looked in the mirror: Mr. Lima Marin had fallen with such force, he could see the imprint of the edge of the toilet on his cheek. He called for immediate medical attention, and detention center staff escorted him to the medical unit. Two nurses were in the medical unit when Mr. Lima Marin arrived. They both. looked at him with what seemed to Mr. Lima Marin to be utter confusion over what to do or how to care for him. By this point, Mr. Lima Marin was sweating excessively and feeling disoriented. He was also in extraordinary pain. He told the nurses what happened and waited for them to assess his injury or respond in some manner appropriate for the urgency of the situation. Yet, to Mr. Lima Marin?s knowledge, they did nothing but give him a couple of Ibuprofen tablets. For over an hour, Mr. Lima Marin sat in a chair in the medical unit?in. excruciating pain, waiting for someone to provide him the medical attention such a serious injury required. Finaiiy, it seemed someone realized Mr. Lima Marin?s injury was serious and that he needed to get to the hospital right away. He was transported1 to the emergency room at University of Colorado?Health (?UOHealth?) and examined by physicians there. At the hospital, Mr. Lima Marin learned he had fractured multiple bones in his face. UC?Health physicians .told him he needed to return for follow~up evaluation and treatment, including surgery, within a week or two or he wouid risk suffering permanent impairments. The doctors 1 Disturbingly, Mr. Lima Marin was transported to the hospital emergency room in wrist and ankle shackles. Although Mr. Lima Marin was a civii detainee, heid soleiy on civil immigration charges, and was suffering extreme pain after the injury to his face, the transiiort staff. refused to remove the restraints during the entire time Mr. Lima Marin was in the hospital. that night. They even forced Mr. Lima Marin to undergo what Mr. Lima Marin believed to be a CAT scan while cuffed at his hands, ankles, and waist. 4280 RD TEL: 303?335-0250 14001 AVE, SUITE 112 DENVER CO 80219 AURORA CO 80014 March 9, 2019 prescribed Mr. Lima Marin medication and said he would be scheduled for further appointments and treatment. Mi. Lima Marin was transported back to the Aurora detention center early in the morning on February 8, 2018. When he returned, detention center staff threw him into a holding cell and told him he could not go back to his housing unit until the detention center doctor evaluated him. This meant that after fracturing several bones in his face and spending the entire night in the emergency room, Mr. Lima Marin was forced to wait in a cold, empty cell for the doctor to see him. But that doctor never came. Finally, Mr. Lima Marin told detention center staff that if the doctor was not going to come, he preferred to go back to his cell where he could lie down, rest, and attempt to achieve some sort of relief from the extremes?nearly disorienting?pain and serious discomfort he was experiencing. So, rather than attempt to reach the doctor or investigate whether he was on his way, staff simply took Mr. Lima Marin back to his cell. In the days and weeks following Mr. Lima Mario?s fall, detention center staff refused to fill the prescription ordered by the physicians at UC?Health. Instead, they substituted Mr. Lima Marin?s ordered medication for a far weaker alternative that did very little to nothing to alleviate his pain, which was accompanied by increasingly worse swelling and pain in Mr. Lima Marin?s temple, near his fractured bones. Compounding the issue, more often than not the detention center staff failed to put even the weaker medication on the cart when they came to Mr. Lima Marin?s housing unit for pill line. When Mr. Lima Marin asked for his medication, staff sometimes gave him ibuprofen tablets?ma clearly inferior treatment for the pain attendant with numerous fractured bones in a person?s face-Wand other times they gave him nothing. The untreated pain of numerous facial fractures was nearly unbearable. Mr. Lima Marin was suffering so greatly and receiving so little care that he sought legal assistance to try to obtain some sort of relief. Undersigned counsel sent a letter around February l6, 2018, to the detention center?s Warden, Johnny Choate, outlining the situation and urging detention center staff to provide Mr. Lima Marin the medical care necessitated by his serious injuries. it was not for two weeks, however, that the detention center doctor finally saw Mr. Lima Marin. On February 2 l, 20l8, Mr. Lima Marin was taken to a holding cell where he waited. for more than an hour. He thought at that point he was going to be transported. to this hospital for his follow?up surgery. But he just sat there. Finally, after trying to get someone?s attention for what felt like hours, detention center staff took Mr. Lima Marin to an examination room in the medical unit. Before Mr. Lima Marin could even sit down, Dr. Jeffrey Peterson, the detention center doctor, began immediately to accuse Mr. Lima Marin of being combative with staff and to berate Mr. Lima Marin for involving his lawyers in his medical care. Mr. Lima Marin was stunned by the encounter because it was the first time he had interacted with Dr. Peterson and had in no way been combative with anyone. He calmly emphasized to Dr. Peterson that he was 4280 MORRISON RD TEL: 3033350250 14001 AVE, SUIYE112 DENVER CO 80219 AURORA CO 80014 .. A l. March 9, 2019 only trying to obtain the treatment ordered by the UC-Health physician and something to alleviate the extreme pain he had been experiencing for weeks. Rather than evaluate Mr. Lima Marin?s injuries~~or even ask Mr. Lirna Marin how he was feeling?Dr. Peterson refused to listen. He interrupted Mr. Lirna Marin and accused him of lying and. exaggerating his injuries. After his bizarre and threatening encounter with Dr. Peterson", Mr. Lima Marin went back to his housing unit. For the next couple of weeks, detention center staff still refused to fill his hospital-ordered prescription. They still failed to bring any medication for him at times and at others gave him just ibuprofen. For an entire week stretch, he received no medication at all. Mr. Lima Marin continued to suffer from excruciating pain, sometimes shooting, sharp pangs in his temple, and worsening numbness and swelling in his face. Chewing on that side of his mouth was too painful, and the headaches were virtually intolerable. Around March 15, 2018, detention center staff finally transported Mr. Lima Marin to an outside center for an evaluation (again, in full shackles). There, the doctor again told him he needed surgery. This time, however, the bones had already begun. to heal so the doctor told him he needed to re~fracture the bones to realign them. if he did not do so, the doctor said, Mr. Lima Marin risked permanent impairment. Fortunately, on March 26, 2018, Mr. Lirna Marin learned he had won his immigration case. He was released from the Aurora detention center that day. To date, Mr. Lima Marin is a free man but he still suffers from the failure of ICE employees and/or agents to provide adequate medical care for his serious medical need. The side of his face where he sustained the bone fractures is numb and, at times, painful. By this point, the bones have healed impmperly and doctors have told him the only way to address the issue is to re-fracture those bones and perform. surgery again?the surgery he was supposed to receive within a week or two of the injury. Mr. Lima Marin may not even. know at this point the full extent of the effects of the poor treatment he received. Legal Basis for Claims Medical Negligence ICE had a duty to ensure the people who are detained in its custody at Aurora receive adequate medical care that adhered to the community standards of care. ICE breached its duty to failing to ensure Mr. Lirna Marin received adequate medical care for the injuries he sustained. As a direct and proximate result of the inadequate, substandard medical care provided by physicians and other health care providers employed by and/or agents of ICE, Mr. Lima Marin suffered extreme pain and avoidable complications of his injuries, including permanent impairment. The negligence of lCE?s employees and/or agents caused Mr. Lima Marin to suffer extreme and extended physical, mental, and emotional pain and distress, medical expenses, and. other ongoing harms. 4280 MORRISON TEL: 303835-0250 34001 AVE. 112 DENVER CO 80219 AURORA CO 80014 a A March 9, 2019 Negligent Hiring, Training, and Supervision had. a duty to prevent its employees or agents from causing physical harm to a third party. ICE breached its duty by failing to ensure safe and humane conditions at Aurora, including by failing to carry out adequate management oversight of the provision of medical care at the detention center. As a direct and proximate result of acts, omissions, and conduct, Mr. Lima Marin suffered extreme pain and avoidable complications of his injuries, including permanent impairment. lCE?s negligent supervision caused Mr. Lima Marin to suffer extreme pain and extended. physical mental, and emotional pain and distress, medical expenses, and other ongoing harms. This is not intended to he an exhaustive list of possible causes of action. The deprivations Mr. Lima Marin experienced in Aurora also constitute a violation of his constitutional right to adequate medical care and due process, and accordingly, is not subject to any FTCA exception. in. Personal lniurvaature and Extent of Each lninrv As explained herein, Mr. Lima Marin suffered extreme pain and avoidable complications of his injuries, including permanent impairment, as well as extreme and extended physical, mental, and emotional pain and distress, medical expenses, and other harms. ll . Witnesses Possible witnesses include detention center staff, Dr. Peterson, and any other ICE employees and agents present during the events giving rise to this claim. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of possible witnesses. 4280 MORRISON RD TEL: 303433543250 14001 IXVE, SUITE 112 DENVER CO 80219 AURORA CO 8001?s?-