S. Fla. Man Who Shot Teacher Claims Civil Rights Violated
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS4) – A South Florida man serving time for the fatal shooting of his Lake Worth Middle school teacher has filed a lawsuit claiming his civil rights have been violated.
The Palm Beach Post reports the lawsuit, filed by 25-year-old Nathaniel Brazill in April, alleges prison officials transferred him twice and put him in solitary confinement in retaliation for filing a 2009 lawsuit against a warden.
Brazill, who represents himself, was 13-years-old when he shot teacher Barry Grunow on the last day of school in Palm Beach County in 2000. While incarcerated, Brazill has studied law while working in prison law libraries. At one time, he was dubbed "Johnnie Cochran" by the other inmates.
The lawsuit is assigned to a federal judge in Fort Myers. Brazil claims the transfers were unconstitutional and seeks monetary damages against prison officials. The docket indicates lawyers for prison officials have not yet responded.
Brazill is currently serving his 28-year sentence at Hardee Correctional Institution in southwest Florida.
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