Inmate’s death spurs civil rights lawsuit

Duffalo’s daughter claims prison’s lack of mental health care led to father’s suicide

A federal civil rights lawsuit filed against two area prisons has cited the lack of mental health care as the primary reason for the death of an inmate two years ago.

Michael L. Duffalo was three days past his 38th birthday when he died from suicide in the Clearfield County Prison on March 10, 2019.

The civil rights action stated Duffalo, who was arrested on March 4, 2019, during a domestic incident in Brockway, Jefferson County, was transferred the next day to the Clearfield County Prison because of an outstanding warrant issued by a Clearfield County Court judge.

The warrant, according to the lawsuit, came about because Duffalo had failed to appear for a hearing on misdemeanor theft charges.

The lawsuit, brought by Duffalo's daughter, Mikayla Duffalo, however, stated that officials at the Jefferson and Clearfield county prisons, as well as the arresting officers, including Pennsylvania State Police and Jefferson County sheriff's deputies, were "deliberately indifferent" to the fact that Michael Duffalo "was obviously suffering from a mental breakdown; it was obvious he was in need of medical treatment."

The lawsuit stated, instead of addressing Duffalo's mental condition, he was placed in an overcrowded Clearfield County Prison where he was made to sleep on the floor under a prison-issued sheet.

The poor living conditions in the Clearfield Prison worsened Duffalo's mental breakdown which, it is charged, "became even more obvious."

Duffalo, who was not placed in a cell but was housed in a common living area due to the "significant overpopulation" of the prison, removed a ceiling tile that covered a metal bar and used the sheet he had been given to end his life, the lawsuit said.

Duffalo's daughter, who is the administrator of his estate, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Johnstown, charging federal civil rights violations, as well as a state wrongful death action.

She is being represented by attorneys Dylan T. Hastings and Mark B. Frost of Philadelphia.

This week, U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson referred the lawsuit for review under the court's Alternative Dispute Resolution program.

The lawsuit focuses not only on the initial arrest of Duffalo during a domestic relations dispute in which he held a knife to his head and threatened to kill himself, but also on the fact that when he was transferred to Clearfield, he did not receive a mental health evaluation, suicide screening or a drug test.

The lawsuit charged that the warden at the time, Gregory Collins, was aware of the "deficient policies, procedures, customs and practices related to mental health and drug screening at the prison."

It also noted the warden was aware of previous suicides in the prison.

Operation of the prison in Clearfield is under the guidance of a county prison board headed by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman.

Clearfield Court Administrator F. Cortex Bell III, citing the president judge, indicated Tuesday that the judge could not address the lawsuit at this point because Clearfield County had yet to be served with it.

County Commissioner John Sobel, also a member of the board, stated that on the advice of the county solicitor, he could not comment concerning the lawsuit.

Attorney Heather L. Bozovich is the solicitor.

Since Duffalo's death, Collins has retired.

He was quoted in news reports that, "I'm going to do something else for a living. I've been doing this for 28 years, and it is grueling at times."

A news report in the Clearfield Progress, dated Oct. 16, 2019 -- seven months after the Duffalo death -- indicated the prison continued to be filled to capacity with an overflow of inmates being housed in Jefferson County.

That article cited Collins' concerns about overcrowding and about insufficient training for jail staff.

The lawsuit contends Duffalo's Fourth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated during his arrest and imprisonment.