Doe v. Gwinnett Cnty.
| Decision Date | 02 April 2020 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 1:19-cv-00813-SDG |
| Parties | JANE DOE, by and through her next friend and father, JAMES DOE; and JOHN DOE, by and through his next friend and father, JAMES DOE, Plaintiffs, v. GWINNETT COUNTY, GEORGIA; GWINNETT COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT; and DETECTIVE JONATHAN LEACH, in his individual capacity, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia |
This matter is before the Court on Defendant Detective Jonathan Leach's Motion to Dismiss [ECF 18]; Defendant Gwinnett County, Georgia's (the "County") Motion to Dismiss [ECF 19]; and, Defendant Gwinnett County School District's ("GCSD") Motion to Dismiss [ECF 23]. For the reasons stated below, the Court DENIES Detective Leach's motion; GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the County's motion; and GRANTS GCSD's motion.
The following facts are accepted as true for purposes of this Order.1 Jane and John Doe are twins.2 Both Plaintiffs have Autism Spectrum Disorder.3 Autism is a neurological condition that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people and experiences the world.4 Plaintiffs experience heightened anxiety that can significantly affect their ability to understand others and make themselves understood.5 This creates various communication issues, including difficulty understanding non-literal language and tones of voice, providing clearly sequenced narratives of events, and using the right words to explain something.6 These difficulties are increased when a person with autism is with unfamiliar people, in unfamiliar places, or experiencing stress.7
In 2017, Jane and John were seniors at Archer High School (the "School").8 Due to their disability, Jane received special education services and John received instruction in a small classroom environment.9 In January 2017, two other high school students, KE and TB, began to bully John.10 They threatened to publish what they claimed was a video of John having sex with "his sister" to the other students.11
On January 12, 2017, a teacher reported to the School's counselor that she had overheard the students in her class discussing a video of John having sex with his sister.12 In response, Ms. Coleman, a School administrator,13 interviewed John in her office on January 13, 2017.14 John told Ms. Coleman that the video did not exist and explained that he was being blackmailed.15 John also signed a written statement to that effect and provided her a copy of a series of text messages between KE and himself that occurred from January 11 to January 13, 2017.16 In those text messages, KE makes repeated demands for money and tells John that it "only gets worse till you pay up."17 The two arranged for John to give KE a pair of sneakers until John was able to obtain the money to pay him.18 There is no video mentioned in their text messages.19
Ms. Coleman also interviewed KE who told her that John had accused him of starting a rumor and offered him money to stop the rumor.20 KE admitted to demanding the money and admitted that he had in his possession the sneakers discussed in his text messages with John.21 When asked if he had seen a video, KE claimed that John showed him and TB a video the previous year and had told them that the girl in the video was his sister.22 Next, Ms. Coleman interviewed TB, who told her that John sent him a video of two people having sex.23 TB claimed that he could not see the girl's face in the video, but John told him the girl was his sister.24 TB stated that he deleted the video shortly after receiving it.25
After interviewing the three boys, Ms. Coleman interviewed Jane.26 Jane told Ms. Coleman multiple times that she had not made a video with John.27 Ms. Coleman asked Jane if John ever made her do anything she did not want to do or something Jane thought was wrong or made her uncomfortable.28 Jane replied in the negative to all of those questions.29 Ms. Coleman noted that Jane seemed concerned throughout their conversation and repeatedly asked if she was in trouble.30
School Resource Officer ("SRO") Reed inspected John's phone during the school's investigation and did not find a video.31 The School concluded its investigation, finding John had not done anything wrong and disciplining KE for blackmailing John.32 Ms. Coleman informed James Doe (John and Jane's father) that the School administration did not believe the video was real.33
On January 26, 2017, approximately two weeks later, Ms. Coleman learned that John had another sister in addition to Jane, who is younger than John and Jane.34 At that point, Ms. Coleman decided to refer the matter to the Department of Family and Children Services ("DFCS").35 DFCS referred the matter to the Gwinnett County Police and Detective Leach for investigation.36
On February 16, 2017, approximately three weeks after the case had been referred to him, Detective Leach began his investigation by conducting interviews at the School.37 Ms. Coleman provided Detective Leach with extensive notes documenting the School's own investigation and informed Detective Leach that the School had concluded that John was taken advantage of and the video likely did not exist.38 SRO Reed confirmed that no video was found on John's phone.39
Detective Leach interviewed KE who said that John had shown him (KE) a video the previous school year in which an unidentifiable male received oral sex from an unidentifiable female.40 KE also claimed, for the first time, that John sent him the video but KE deleted it shortly thereafter.41 Detective Leach noted that KE could not explain why he chose to wait until the following school year to blackmail John.42 Detective Leach also interviewed TB who told him that John had sent a video of a male and female, both unidentifiable, having sexual intercourse.43 TB claimed that he deleted the video shortly after viewing it.44 TB also purportedly lied to Detective Leach regarding whether KE had blackmailed John.45
Following KE's and TB's interviews, Detective Leach interviewed Jane. A year prior to the interview, a speech and language evaluation indicated that Jane had significant receptive language impairment and functions at the early seven-year-old level.46
To conduct the interview, at Detective Leach's direction and with Ms. Coleman's knowledge, Jane was removed from class by a school official and escorted to a room to meet with Detective Leach.47 Detective Leach, Ms. Coleman, and School administrators were aware of Jane's disability before the interview began.48 In his incident report, Detective Leach noted that Jane "appeared to be severely autistic."49 Throughout the interview, Jane displayed significant fear and anxiety.50 Within the first few minutes, Jane asked if she was going to jail and asked to hold Ms. Coleman's hand.51 During the interview, Jane cried, stated numerous times that she was scared, and repeatedly asked if she was in trouble.52 Jane expressed fear and concern that the police were going to "get her" and that she was going to hear "bad reports."53 Starting six minutes into the interview, Jane repeatedly asked if the interview was over.54
In response to Detective Leach's questions, Jane described incidents of John laying on her and stated that they were hugging.55 Jane stated that she and John "attached" to each other.56 When Detective Leach asked what "attached" meant, she stated that John hugged her.57 Jane used the terms "attach" and "hug" interchangeably multiple times.58 Jane could not remember when these encounters occurred, but she stated it was a "while ago."59 Jane repeatedly told Detective Leach that she and John were clothed during these encounters.60 Jane stated that she had not seen John's penis since she was little.61 Jane stated that John was never using a cell phone during the times they "attached."62
Jane asked if her father, James Doe, was aware she was being interviewed eight minutes into the interview.63 She later asked Detective Leach to call her father, but he declined.64
Jane alleges that she has suffered severe emotional distress since the interview.65 She saw a psychiatrist because she was too distressed to return to school.66 She was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and prescribed sedatives.67 Jane was afraid to go back to school and often had to be sedated to make it through the school day.68 She frequently fell asleep in class and missed much of her senior year.69
After hearing about Jane's interview, James Doe came to the school to take Jane and John home.70 At Detective Leach's request, James Doe agreed to take John to Gwinnett Police Headquarters to meet with him.71
When James Doe and John arrived at the Gwinnett Police Headquarters, they were placed in a room by themselves.72 Their conversation was recorded.73 During that conversation, John told his father that he never touched or did anything to Jane, that he heard KE had made a fake video and was attempting to set him (John) up.74 John said, 75 When Detective Leach entered the room and began to question John, John maintained his innocence and invoked his right to an attorney.76 In response, Detective Leach concluded the interview and placed John under arrest for felony rape and felony incest, in violation of O.C.G.A. §§ 16-6-1 and 16-6-22, respectively.77 Detective Leach handcuffed John and transported him to Gwinnett County Jail for booking.78 Immediately after arresting John, Detective Leach obtained warrants for John's arrest.79
On February 22, 2017, the Gwinnett Sexual Assault Center conducted a forensic interview of AM, John's younger sister.80 AM did not report any abuse.81 In late March, Detective Leach obtained search warrants to conduct forensic examinations of John's and TB's phones.82 The examiner did not find a video or any messages discussing a video.83
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