SC inmate blinded by guard’s pepper spray gets $250,000 award from Richland  jury. Here’s why

A South Carolina prison inmate won a $250,000 jury verdict from the S.C. Department of Corrections after accusing a corrections officer of repeatedly and unnecessarily shooting pepper spray into his eyes and face.

The spray temporarily blinded the inmate, Daniel Huneycutt, 32, who was and still is serving a 10-year sentence for grand larceny and second degree burglary, according to evidence in the case.

The civil case was tried before state Judge Robert Hood at the Richland County courthouse over three days. It ended Thursday. The jury was out two hours before delivering its decision.

Huneycutt, who is scheduled to be released this fall, won’t get the money anytime soon.

The Department of Corrections could appeal, which could delay any payment for years depending on the outcome.

“SCDC is considering an appeal but no decision has been made yet,” a department spokeswoman said in an email Friday.

The corrections department offered to settle the case last September for $35,000 but the offer was rejected, according to court records.

A key legal issue in the case was whether the corrections department had been “grossly negligent” in failing to oversee its officers, including Vasiliy Chernyak Jr., whom Huneycutt’s lawsuit alleged repeatedly shot pepper spray into his eyes and face when the inmate had not provoked such punishment.

The jury found that the department had been “grossly negligent” and that caused Huneycutt’s injuries, according to the jury form.

“Failures to screen, supervise and train (officers) created a hazardous environment where correctional officers like Cpl. Chernyak were allowed to abuse their authority in ways that caused harm to inmates,” Huneycutt’s lawsuit said.

In an answer to the lawsuit, the department denied all negligence and asserted that even if the department was negligent, Huneycutt was also negligent and his actions contributed to the situation in which Chernyak used his pepper spray.

Within days of the incident, Chernyak was fired by the corrections department, according to court records and the department. The agency, which issued a news release about the firing, also charged Chernyak with third degree assault of an inmate and misconduct in office. The warrant also said that Huneycutt was injured in his left eye and face, requiring him to seek medical attention.

According to Spartanburg County court records, Chernyak’s case was dismissed in 2020. The records did not give details.

Chernyak was not a defendant in Huneycutt’s lawsuit and did not testify at the trial.

According to the lawsuit, Huneycutt was an inmate at Tyger River Correctional Institution, a medium-security state prison for men, in Enoree in Spartanburg County when the incident happened on a May afternoon in 2019.

Huneycutt was asked to return to his cell and was in the process of doing so when Chernyak blocked his way and put “his chemical munition cannister one to two inches from (Huneycutt’s) face and sprayed his chemical munition directly into (his) left eye,” the lawsuit said.

When Huneycutt turned away to avoid being sprayed again, Chernyak blocked him and sprayed him several times again, the lawsuit said.

At that point, Chernyak’s supervisor began “screaming” at the officer to stop, but he sprayed Huneycutt two more times, the lawsuit said.

Chernyak taunted Huneycutt, telling him, “How do you like the spraying, I got you good,” the lawsuit said.

The attacks caused Huneycutt “excruciating pain and fear for his health, welfare and safety,” the lawsuit said.

And after the attacks, Huneycutt “was left blinded and unable to see, having to rely on other inmates to assist him into the bathroom in an attempt to decontaminate,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit contained a statement from the officer who told Chernyak to stop spraying Huneycutt, backing up the inmate’s version of events, as well as other supportive witness statements.

Judge Hood allowed Huneycutt to wear civilian clothes during the three-day trial.

Huneycutt’s lawyers were Joe Leventis and Patrick McLaughlin. The department’s lawyers were Pete Balthazar and David DeMasters.