A former Metro Nashville police officer has settled his lawsuit over a 2009 prisoner escape in Greenwood that resulted in career-ending wounds to him.
Mark Chesnut had sued for-profit prison company Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, for the escape from custody of Joseph Jackson Jr. at the Eye Station in Greenwood and the resulting wounding of Chesnut on June 25, 2009.
Chesnut was a sergeant with the department when he stopped a rental car carrying Jackson and his cousin, Courtney Logan of Louisville, Ky., both of whom are serving Tennessee prison sentences on attempted murder convictions.
“This was a confidential settlement. It was mediated, and it resolved the case against CCA,” Chesnut’s attorney, David L. Raybin, said this morning.
The Tennessean reported Wednesday that Chesnut had asked for $16.5 million in damages from the Nashville-based corrections firm.
CCA spokesman Mike Machak said terms of the agreement are confidential.
In September 2010, Jackson pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Chesnut, who was shot the same day of the Greenwood escape.
Jackson pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Tennessee to serve 45 years for the shooting.
In the same court, Logan was convicted by a jury after four hours of deliberations. He will be eligible for parole in August 2013, according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections website.
In Leflore County, Jackson and Logan are facing five counts of kidnapping, felony escape and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Logan has also been charged with aiding a felony escape.
A trial date for Jackson and Logan has not been set, according to court officials.
