To answer a simple question from his lawyer about whom he relies on for much of his daily routine, Jason Walters used his left hand to slowly form three letters on a piece of paper.

Mom.

Walters, 32, suffers from aphasia, a brain condition that leaves him often unable to articulate or understand words. He developed it after being beaten unconscious by a group of fellow inmates in the Toronto (Don) Jail in November 2008 — an attack allegedly led by the notorious leader of a rival gang.

Seven years later, Walters took the stand at a civil trial in which he and his family are suing the province for $10 million, alleging he should not have been kept on the same range in the jail as a member of a rival gang.

At the time, Walters was a member of the Malvern Crew gang who had been arrested three days earlier on several firearms charges. The ringleader of the attack is alleged to be Tyshan Riley, leader of the Galloway Boys, who is now serving a life sentence for the murder of a man from the Malvern area. He has also been convicted of three attempted murders.

“He was not a model citizen,” Walters’ lawyer, Andrew Camman, said in an opening statement to the court. “But he did not deserve to literally get his brains kicked in by four men led by a rival gang leader.”

Camman will argue that the supervisors at the now-closed jail failed not just by placing a low-level gang member like Walters in the same area as Riley, but by not sufficiently supervising the range — including not looking, during patrols, into the shower area where the beating allegedly went on for half an hour.

“Though tragic, the assault was unforeseeable,” said Rita Bambers in her opening address. She represents the province. While the jail supervisors were aware of the gang affiliations of both men, she said, they did not have specific knowledge of the rivalry between these two gangs.

Camman will argue this is not true. At the time of the assault, there was extensive media coverage of the Malvern-Galloway gang war — and several security precautions were taken for Riley’s trial, including having the Emergency Task Force escort him between the jail and his court appearances.

Bambers also said the police never charged anyone in connection with the assault, including Riley, and that there could have been any number of reasons for the assault apart from gang rivalry.

The Ministry of Corrections policy on housing gang members, implemented earlier that year, was not aimed at segregating rival gang members but on preventing gang members being kept together and developing strength in numbers, she said.

She noted that Riley had spent more than 400 days on a range with another member of the Malvern Crew and no assault occurred.

Bambers also argued that Walters never mentioned any concerns about his security when being processed into the jail. Walters had done time before for intimidation and firearms possession and was in protective custody then, so he knew what measures were available, she said.

The statement of defence filed by the province argues that it was Walters who failed to make reasonable precautions for his own safety. He “voluntarily assumed all the risks and consequences of being a member of a violent street gang. . . one such foreseeable consequence is violent assault and injury.” s

As the first witness when the trial began Monday, Walters attempted to share what his life is like now. He mimed his therapeutic exercises, explained in single words that he can use the shower and bathroom on his own, and told the judge his favourite TV show is The Price is Right. He has no friends, and when asked if there is anything about his life he prays to change, he smiled and said no.

When it was his mother’s turn to testify, Pearline Samuda broke down in tears as she recalled how hard it was when the son she cares for alone could only get around in a wheelchair. Now he uses a cane and can be left by himself while she goes to her cleaning job in the evening.

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Camman says the amount needed to care for Walters until the end of his life is $9 million. Bambers says the amount is $1.7 million.

The trial is expected to last a month.