Prisoner wins $4 million lawsuit

FORT WORTH -- A former federal prison inmate won a $4 million federal court verdict against a guard she says raped her.

Marilyn Shirley said she's glad justice was done and hopes the verdict will lead to changes in the prison system.

The 47-year-old Dallas woman said she was raped about six months before her September 2000 release from a federal women's prison in Fort Worth. She served three years for a drug-related offense.

She went public with her ordeal to show the guard that she is not afraid and to warn other inmates, she said.

Her attorney, Arch McColl III, said the guard later was transferred to a men's prison, remains under investigation but hasn't been charged.

Prison officials did not comment.