Jail Suicide Set t lement

In a case that has become a focal point of the current debate between the Democratic candidate for Putnam County Sheriff and the Republican incumbent, a Putnam Valley family has reached a settlement with Putnam County in a civil rights lawsuit over the suicide of a 21-year-old inmate who hanged himself in a jail cell three and one-half years ago.

As the trial wound down last week in U.S. District Court in White Plains, Donny Sinkov agreed to settle with four of the five defendants while the fifth defendant, Americor, a Delaware company hired by the county to provide medical services at the Putnam Correctional Facility, was found 35 percent responsible for the inmate’s death and was assigned a liability of $265,000.

Spencer Sinkov was sentenced to the county jail in May of 2006, after Sheriff’s Department investigators arrested him on several felony charges relating to criminal sale and criminal possession of heroin. The following day, after his family had visited him behind bars, Sinkov committed suicide in his cell by hanging himself with a sweatshirt.

In court papers, the Sinkovs admitted knowing of their son’s drug addiction, testifying that he had been sent for rehabilitation on two occasions. But the suit maintained that the Sheriff’s Department failed to place the inmate on an around-the-clock 24-hour watch even after an evaluation form completed during processing determined he was at risk for suicide.

Manhattan attorney Lewis Silverman, who represented Putnam County, said the case was settled “in the best interest of all parties, with no admission of liability on the county’s part.”

Sinkov’s attorney, Kim Berg, agreed the settlement was agreeable to both parties: “No amount of money will bring back my client’s son. We want to ensure that tragedies of this type don’t happen again.”

Silverman did not divulge the amount his client had settled for, however, the amount will be made public once the county legislature approves it. The attorney noted that insurance will cover the cost of the settlement.

Sinkov also settled with Sheriff Donald Smith and corrections staff members Sgt. Louis Lapolla and Officer Joseph Vasaturo, who both processed Spencer Sinkov at the correctional facility. County Attorney Jennifer Bumgarner said the county’s insurance would be paying their portion of the settlement, as well.