{
  "id": 5493052,
  "name": "Sam Cotton, Claimant, v. The State of Illinois, Respondent",
  "name_abbreviation": "Cotton v. State",
  "decision_date": "1986-08-04",
  "docket_number": "No. 85-CC-2398",
  "first_page": "167",
  "last_page": "170",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "39 Ill. Ct. Cl. 167"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "Ill. Ct. Cl.",
    "id": 8793,
    "name": "Illinois Court of Claims"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 29,
    "name_long": "Illinois",
    "name": "Ill."
  },
  "cites_to": [],
  "analysis": {
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    "ocr_confidence": 0.869,
    "pagerank": {
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      "percentile": 0.3393576227803243
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    "sha256": "b01658373fcbf1eedbf6f73898f6b0e253dc180ba0fee175c320bbad25478c42",
    "simhash": "1:75a07f704bc5ab5b",
    "word_count": 844
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T21:22:53.461892+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "Sam Cotton, Claimant, v. The State of Illinois, Respondent."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "Raucci, J.\nThis is a claim brought by Sam Cotton, an inmate at the Centraba Correctional Center, to recover for personal injuries.\nOn February 1, 1985, when the Claimant, age 22, was an inmate at the Joliet Correctional Center, the Claimant fell while attending the supper meal at the gallery or mess hall. After walking into the dining room with his tray of food, Claimant set the tray down and went to get kool-aid beverage. After obtaining the koolaid, Claimant started back to his seat, where his tray of food was located, and fell allegedly injuring his right foot. Inmates obtained their beverages from two containers sitting on table tops, where inmates served kool-aid. Inmates carry their beverage container to the kool-aid station, place their container under a spigot and inmates push a button filling the container. On the date of Claimant\u2019s injury nothing unusual was being done.\nClaimant states that he was caused to fall by the slippery condition of the floor because \u201ca lot of kool-aid was on the floor.\u201d\nClaimant had noticed beverage spilled on the floor in the area of the kool-aid stand on previous occasions.\nClaimant testified that the same foot had been injured earlier when he was in the Cook County Jail playing basketball. Claimant testified that, after the earlier injury at the Cook County Jail, the foot healed properly and Claimant had \u201cno problems.\u201d Claimant testified he was unable to run and walk without discomfort after the first injury. Claimant testified the bone healed properly on that occasion. Claimant testified he didn\u2019t know whether the bone broken in the incident complained of was the same one broken at the Cook County incident. Claimant testified he couldn\u2019t tell whether it felt like the same bone or not. After being injured at Joliet, he was taken to Silver Cross Hospital where a cast was put on his foot. It was a walking cast and because of snow and wet conditions the cast got wet and had to be taken off sooner than anticipated. Claimant testified that he told officers that a bone in his foot was sticking out. Correctional officers X-rayed his foot, wrapped it in an ace bandage, and sent him to Centralia Correctional Center. Claimant stated he felt that the cast came off too soon because his foot was still bothering him.\nClaimant testified he did not know how the kool-aid got on the floor, but he could see that the floor was wet. Claimant stated, \u201cI ... I seen the kool-aid on the floor, where I was getting my kool-aid.\u201d Claimant testified that he saw the kool-aid before he fell.\nClaimant also complained that he was having back problems subsequent to his fall on February 1,1985, and the doctors advised him he was suffering from a back sprain. Claimant testified that the back condition was getting a little better.\nWith respect to the Claimant\u2019s foot, Claimant testified that his foot hurt all of the time and that there was a lump on his foot that protruded visibly that was caused by the February 1,1985, accident.\nOn cross-examination by Respondent, Claimant again testified that he had no bone protruding from the side of his foot after the Cook County Jail injury.\nRespondent introduced medical records from Joliet Correctional Center in evidence, which included an Illinois Department of Corrections \u201cmedical history form\u201d purporting to be dated January 25, 1985, bearing the following notation:\n\u201cRight foot \u2014 had cast 1984 \u2014 bone protrudes.\u201d\nAlso, on certain \u201cmedical progress notes\u201d bearing a date of January 30,1985, the following notation appears:\n\u201cI hurt my right foot last August \u2014 they took cast off in September and it still hurts all of the time \u2014 deformity outer aspect, right foot.\u201d\nThe medical progress notes referred to above are followed by medical progress notes noting the incident of February 1, 1985, about which Claimant complains in the present case.\nThe Court of Claims Act provides in pertinent part as follows:\n\u201csec. 14 \u2014 whenever any fraud against the State of Illinois is practiced or attempted by any Claimant in the proof, statement, establishment or allowance of any claim or any part of any claim, the claim or part thereof shall be forever barred from prosecution in the Court.\u201d\nRespondent argues that undisputed medical records made immediately before the accident and injury of which the Claimant now complains establish that Claimant did indeed have a lump protruding from his right foot about which he had complaints immediately prior to the incident now complained of. This evidence, properly before the Commissioner, can leave little doubt that the Claimant did indeed by his testimony attempt fraud against Respondent in connection with this claim.\nIt is therefore ordered that this claim is dismissed and in accordance with Illinois Revised Statutes (1985), ch. 37, sec. 439.14, Claimant\u2019s claim be forever barred from prosecution in this Court.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "Raucci, J."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Sam Cotton, pro se, for Claimant.",
      "Neil F. Hartigan, Attorney General (Claire E. B. Gibson, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel), for Respondent."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "(No. 85-CC-2398\nSam Cotton, Claimant, v. The State of Illinois, Respondent.\nOpinion filed August 4, 1986.\nSam Cotton, pro se, for Claimant.\nNeil F. Hartigan, Attorney General (Claire E. B. Gibson, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel), for Respondent."
  },
  "file_name": "0167-01",
  "first_page_order": 265,
  "last_page_order": 268
}