Help me out please

I was a witness to an attack on a friend while incarcerated. There was negligence on the part of the prison and its officials, and now I am out and helping the attackee in his civil action against the prison and staff. The court is being, as they often are, a thorn in the side. His case hinges on whether he is disabled. Although he has been considered by the prison to be mentally ill the court is stating that my friend needed to have been declared mentally ill by a court, not just by a doctor. The Magistrate in Federal District court of Georgia is using OCGA 9390 (a Georgia statute) to claim this. So, not only are we trying to deal with this, but we need to know whether or not an inmate is automatically legally considered disabled or incapacitated after he has been incarcerated for many years (we have heard the term to be 7 years, but do now know the exact number of years required of incarceration...if this is so). If we can prove that my friend is disabled and/or incapacitated it would win him his case. If anyone out there can help please notify me ASAP at dougdoesall@gmail.com. Thanks much.