Pasco County Sheriff's Office bailiff Ted Clegg was fired after an inmate was left overnight in a holding cell in the West Pasco Judicial Center courthouse in New Port Richey last Friday, according to an agency spokesman.
"Our policy was not followed," said Pasco Sheriffs Office spokesman Eddie Daniels Jr. "The person responsible is no longer a member of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office."
Larry Moulton, 58, spent about 18-hours shackled in the holding cell with no access to food, water, or proper clothing because the heat is turned off in the empty courthouse at night, according to his attorney Matthew Kindel.
"I am outraged about it," he said.
Kindel said his client told him there was a bathroom in the holding cell but Moulton could not use it because he was shackled.
Moulton's fiance' said she pressed the sheriff's office staff about Moulton's location when she noticed he had not been booked into the Land O' Lakes jail and they finally agreed to check the courthouse holding cell on Saturday afternoon. The fiance' said Moulton was taken to the hospital and treated for hypothermia.
"We immediately had professional medical staff evaluate the inmate and he was medically cleared," Daniles Jr. said. "We hold ourselves to a high standard and are accountable for our actions."
Kindel said he believes without the persistence of Moulton's family questioning his whereabouts, the inmate likely would not have been found in the holding cell until Monday. Moulton plead no contest to a DUI charge and was sentenced last Friday morning to 30 days in jail. Kindel said he filed a motion to reduce Moulton's sentence to time served because the Pasco Sheriff's Office failed to ensure his safety and put his life at risk.
"He also has a potential civil lawsuit against the sheriff's office and any other entities responsible," Kindel said. "Potentially cruel and unusual punishment. Any medical bills and any punitive damages as well."
Kindel said the only problem is it typically takes about 30-days or longer to get a hearing scheduled in front of a judge and at that point his client will already be out of jail.
"Under the rule of procedure the judge does not have to set a hearing on that motion," he said. "It's been sent to her and we are waiting for that determination."