Federal Jury Awards $1.1 Million to Woman Raped Three Times by Pennington County Jail Guard

On December 14, 2002, Mindy Kahle was being held at Pennington County Jail in Rapid City, South Dakota, awaiting trial on unrelated charges. She was a pretrial detainee, not yet convicted of anything, and was entitled to the constitutional protections that status carries.

That night, corrections officer Jermaine Leonard entered her cell and sexually assaulted her three times. Leonard later admitted the sexual contact occurred but claimed it was consensual, arguing Kahle had initiated it in exchange for extra privileges. The jury rejected that account entirely.

Kahle brought a civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, arguing that Leonard had violated her constitutional rights as a pretrial detainee. Steven C. Beardsley and Brad J. Lee of what is now Beardsley Jensen and Lee represented her at trial. The case went to a federal jury in February 2008.

The jury found Leonard liable for battery, outrage, and civil rights violations and returned a verdict of $1.1 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages. The award reflected both the harm Kahle suffered and the jury's condemnation of Leonard's conduct. Leonard lost his position as a corrections officer and later served time in jail on related criminal charges. A negligent-supervision claim against Leonard's supervisor, Deputy Tim Malone, did not result in liability.

Leonard appealed, challenging the jury selection process, several evidentiary rulings, and the jury instructions. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the verdict on April 27, 2009, rejecting each of his arguments. The court did remand a narrow question about the method used to calculate attorney fees, but the $1.1 million judgment for Kahle was upheld in full.