Inmate serving life sentence gets $10k payout, claiming ‘toxic gas’ released in cell

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Earlier this year, the South Carolina Insurance Reserve Fund paid an inmate serving a life sentence $10,000 after a lawsuit alleged he “unjustifiably suffered” at the Lieber Correctional Institution in Dorchester County in 2013.

A lawsuit filed in 2016 alleges that “without cause or provocation” corrections Officer Grealin Frazier fired chemical munitions through the lunch-tray flap of a holding cell, after an inmate asked him for lunch.

Giber, who was also in the same holding cell at the time, claims it unleashed a “toxic gas similar to, but stronger, than mace” into the cell, burning the eyes, noses, mouths and lungs of all four inmates inside.

The plaintiff claims due to Frazier’s actions he required both medical testing and psychological counseling.

Court records indicate that he requested the $10,000 settlement check be given to his mother.

Gibert is currently serving his sentence in another state prison in Marlboro County.

According to the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, Frazier is no longer employed by SCDC.

The department accused him of misconduct in 2015, although it’s unclear if that accusation is related to the matter alleged in the lawsuit. The misconduct accusation was expunged in 2019.

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