BELFAST – The widow of an inmate who committed suicide in the Waldo County Jail in 2002 has filed a federal lawsuit against the county and its employees.

The suit was filed on behalf of the estate of John Stewart in U.S. District Court in Bangor on Friday. Stewart, 54, of Thorndike, committed suicide by hanging while in custody on July 7, 2002.

Named as defendants in Diane M. Stewart’s suit are the county, Sheriff Scott Story, Deputy James Porter and corrections officers William Cote, Jessica Blaney, Joseph Travis and Robert Cartier. Lawyer Dale F. Thistle of Newport is representing the Stewart estate.

The suit charges that the jail staff failed to properly monitor Stewart while he was in custody and that by doing so its actions “were of a malicious and intentional nature and manifested a deliberate indifference” about Stewart’s need for essential care and supervision.

When informed of the suit on Saturday, County Commissioner John Hyk said that because the matter was in the courts, he was prohibited from discussing it.

“It’s a legal matter and I can’t comment on it,” said Hyk.

Stewart was booked at the county jail at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, July 7, 2002, on charges of domestic assault and violation of bail conditions. He was found hanging in his cell at 6:51 p.m. He had fashioned a noose from his socks.

Stewart had been indicted three months earlier on charges of attempted unlawful sexual contact, visual sexual aggression against a child and indecent conduct. His bail conditions had forbidden Stewart from drinking.

At the time of his booking, Stewart had a .19 blood alcohol content and was determined to be despondent and irrational, according to a Maine Department of Corrections investigation conducted following the death.

The suit charges that the jail staff “failed to follow jail procedures and policies concerning intoxicated inmates and or suicidal inmates” when dealing with Stewart. It charges that those alleged failures “directly and proximately” led to Stewart’s death.

Attorney Thistle contended that the jail was aware that Stewart had significant mental health issues and suicidal tendencies yet failed to follow the proper procedures for monitoring and caring for him in his intoxicated and despondent condition.

He charged that the staff failed to document Stewart as “a special management inmate requiring close supervision to insure [his] safety.”

The suit charged that after Stewart was given a blood alcohol test, he was booked and placed in a holding cell, where he was left alone for a period of time.

According to state regulations, inmates believed to be intoxicated or despondent should be monitored at all times, the suit contends. A jail guard noticed Stewart hanging while in the process of escorting another inmate to the visiting room.

“Corrections officers failed to remove items of self-destruction, such as Stewart’s stockings,” as required by state and jail policies, according to the suit.

The suit also charged that it took corrections officers “several minutes” to lift Stewart from the bars. When guards attempted to provide CPR, their efforts were hampered because the mouthpiece used to perform the resuscitation was broken.

A second mouthpiece was obtained from a nearby control room. Stewart never regained consciousness and died at the Waldo County General Hospital the following day.

“The deliberate indifference of the defendants and their agents and their complete failure to provide essential and necessary supervision of John Stewart constitutes cruel and unusual punishment,” the suit stated.

The suit requested that the court compensate Diane Stuart for “pecuniary losses, costs of medical care and burial, loss of consortium, loss of comfort, society and companionship and emotional pain and suffering, along with her costs and interest.”