State to pay inmate’s mother

Thursday, Aug. 21, 1997 | 10:09 a.m.

The Board of Examiners, composed of Gov. Bob Miller, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and Secretary of State Dean Heller, approved the settlements Wednesday.

The $48,199 paid to Jewelene Nelson was for the negligent death of her son, inmate Benito Camacho, in January 1995.

Camacho, serving time at the Southern Desert Correctional Center, was given the wrong drug for his respiratory problems by Dr. Charles Kilduff. Camacho died 45 minutes after receiving the drug. Kilduff was fired because of the incident.

The board also paid $32,500 to Judy Wilson of Reno, the victim of a personal grudge by former Nevada Highway Patrol trooper James Shoemate.

Shoemate in 1993 waited outside Wilson's place of work, then pulled her over and cited her for traffic violations. When Wilson refused to sign the citations, she was taken to jail.

The payment was to settle Wilson's civil-rights claims against the state. Shoemate was fired.

Payment of $103,525 was authorized to Janet Guinn, a psychologist with the Nevada Mental Health Institute in Sparks who was fired after refusing to submit to a psychological and psychiatric evaluation as a condition of continued employment.

Guinn won a ruling from a state hearings officer that said the state didn't have authority to require such an evaluation. Guinn won reinstatement and back pay in her case. She since has resigned.