A judge has sanctioned CoreCivic, a private prison company, for destroying video evidence in a wrongful death case involving a detainee who died by suicide while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. This sanction is reportedly the first of its kind against a private prison corporation for such actions. The judge's ruling, made in December, allows the jury to presume that the missing evidence was unfavorable to CoreCivic.
The case centers on Kesley Vial, a 23-year-old Brazilian asylum seeker who died on August 24, 2022, a week after attempting suicide at the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico. Vial's family had requested the preservation of all relevant evidence, including video footage, on the day of his death. However, CoreCivic failed to provide video from 14 of the 15 cameras that were operational at the time of the incident, claiming the footage had been overwritten.
The judge's sanction may have influenced CoreCivic's decision to settle with Vial's family for an undisclosed amount shortly before the trial was scheduled to begin in January. Legal experts have noted that this case highlights the ongoing issue of private prison companies potentially avoiding accountability for their actions, particularly regarding the preservation of evidence in wrongful death lawsuits.