City officials and a federal judge still must approve a settlement, but former jail inmate Jamal Hunter already has big plans for the $3.25 million offered by Denver attorneys in his abuse case.
Hunter said he wants to build a house for his ex-wife and two of his kids in Colorado. He wants to take care of his four children living in Texas. He wants to buy a beauty salon and barber shop, market his own line of hair extensions and weaves for women, and donate wigs to cancer patients.
But while he plans his future, Hunter also carries with him the scars and pain of permanent physical and emotional injuries that left him sobbing at times during a two-hour interview with The Denver Post on Wednesday.
Hunter said he believes no one would knowingly accept the punishment he received — even if they knew they would get a multimillion-dollar settlement. But he said he does not feel bitter.
“I think this is a positive life-changing situation not only for me but the whole community,” he said. “I’m happy to be the one with this responsibility.”
Hunter said he takes pride in knowing that his case could potentially help other inmates and prevent future abuse.
Revelations in his case led directly to Sheriff Gary Wilson’s resignation this week and an investigation by independent monitor Nick Mitchell revealing scores of inmate grievances that hadn’t been properly investigated.
A federal judge overseeing Hunter’s case has urged federal authorities to investigate the practices of the police and sheriff’s departments.
U.S. District Judge John Kane has not said whether he will approve the settlement. He also told The Post that he might pursue contempt-of-court charges against city officials.
Hunter, 40, said his mother had a drug addiction and he spent a few years in foster care when he was a teenager. He met his father and grandfather for the first time when he was 19 when he came to Denver. He is the grandson of Lawrence Pierre, who owned Pierre’s Supper Club, 2157 Downing St., a famous nightclub serving catfish and homemade hot sauce.
Hunter’s criminal record goes back to 1993. He was arrested for a series of misdemeanor assaults for domestic violence involving his wife at the time.
Hunter admits hitting his ex-wife once, but “I didn’t brutally beat her.” He said he deserved to go to jail, but not what happened to him July 31, 2011. Hunter said he was the only person with a misdemeanor charge placed in a jail pod with more than 60 felons, including gang members.
On the day Hunter was attacked, he was feeling upbeat because he had just been accepted for a jail work program where he would give haircuts to inmates.
Minutes after his return to his pod from a court hearing, deputy Gaynel Rumer turned the lights off with most inmates already locked in their cells. Rumer allegedly knew inmates were going to attack Hunter after the deputy told them Hunter was a snitch. Other inmates have said Rumer was angry at Hunter for belittling the deputy for drinking on the job.
Hunter had returned to his cell and had just washed his face when another inmate wrapped his arm around Hunter’s neck from behind. While the first man held him, another inmate pummeled him in the face with his fist. Hunter’s nose broke, and he began to bleed profusely. The inmates told him to take a shower to clean up the blood. Hunter showered, and when he returned to his cell, the beat-down resumed. Now there were four attacking him.
Rumer gave one of the attackers a plastic garbage bag, Hunter said. While Hunter was unconscious, inmates put the bag over his head and were suffocating him when one inmate warned that if Hunter died, they’d all face first-degree murder charges.
“It was supposed to be a murder,” Hunter said.
Instead, his attackers poured two scalding cups of water on his genitals. Other inmates have since testified that they heard Hunter screaming, but jail video shows no reaction from Rumer, who is seen walking his rounds.
Hunter was taken to the Denver Health Medical Center for treatment. Eight days later, he asked another deputy to contact a nurse to examine his genitals to prevent infection. Jail video cameras recorded a noncombative Hunter being choked by sheriff’s Deputy Edward Keller. Both Rumer and Keller deny the charges.
Hunter and his attorneys on Wednesday offered indications of what jurors would have heard if his case weren’t settled.
“You don’t want men evaluating what they think this injury is worth. You don’t even want female jurors evaluating the worth of these injuries,” his attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai said. “We’re in the neighborhood of everything is possible.”
Hunter said he survived days of agony by thinking about Nelson Mandela’s half-a-lifetime of suffering in a South African prison. He said he believes there was a spiritual reason for everything that happened to him.
“I accept it as my destiny,” Hunter said. “I’m the right person for the job.”
