Arkansas Prison Inmate Wins Legal Fight

An Arkansas state prison inmate has been awarded more than $5,000 for excessive force used against him by Hempstead County jailers.

A federal judge ruled that the jailers used excessive force against Jacob Townsend during an incident in September 2011.

Townsend's lawsuit said Simeon Ames and Pierre Summerville used excessive pepper spray on Townsend and that Ames attacked Townsend after he refused to clean around his cell, then insulted the two.

U.S. District Judge Barry Bryant ordered Ames and Summerville each pay $1 for using pepper spray on Townsend after he was on the jail floor, that Ames pay $5,000 for attacking Townsend, and the two men are to repay $350 fee Townsend paid to file the lawsuit.

Townsend is now serving a 30-year prison sentence for drug convictions in Hempstead County.