Freeman v. Gay
Decision Date | 07 June 2012 |
Docket Number | NO. 3:11-0867,Consolidated with: 3:11-1094,3:11-0867 |
Parties | ANTONIO FREEMAN v. DEE DAVID GAY, et al. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee |
By Order entered September 16, 2011 (Docket Entry No. 5), this action was referred to the Magistrate Judge to enter a scheduling order for management of the case, to dispose or recommend disposition of any pretrial motions under 28 U.S.C. §§ 636(b)(1)(A) and (B), and to conduct further proceedings, if necessary, under Rule 72(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of Court.
By Order entered February 2, 2012, the Court consolidated the instant action ("Freeman I") with another action filed by the plaintiff, Antonio L. Freeman v. Dee David Gay, et al., 3:11-1094 ("Freeman II"). See Docket Entry No. 11 in Freeman II.1
Presently pending before the Court are several motions filed by the parties in the consolidated actions:
Also before the Court are the plaintiff's various responses to the dispositive motions filed by the defendants, see Docket Entry Nos. 57, 76, 81, 87, 88, 90, 99-101, and 115-118, and the responses of Defendants James and Gay to the plaintiff's motion for injunctive relief (Docket Entry Nos. 83-84), and the plaintiff's reply (Docket Entry No. 91). Set out below are the Court's recommendations for disposition of the motions.
Although the Plaintiff is currently an inmate in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction ("TDOC"), the claims at issue in the consolidated actions are based upon events whichoccurred prior to his becoming a TDOC inmate when he was both a free world citizen in Sumner County, Tennessee, and a pre-trial detainee at the Sumner County Jail ("Jail"). The plaintiff's filings are lengthy. The original complaints are 80 and 73 pages, respectively, and the plaintiff has made several other lengthy filings and "declarations." The plaintiff's allegations are made in a largely narrative fashion, his pleadings do not contain an easily discernable factual chronology, his specific claims are often not well-defined, and he repeatedly makes use of facts contained in exhibits instead of pleading factual allegations in support of his claims. Accordingly, determining the underlying factual background of the consolidated actions requires gleaning facts from the record, and the following rendition of the facts surrounding the plaintiff's claims is based on his complaints and various exhibits filed by the plaintiff.
The events at issue began on September 14, 2008, when the plaintiff was stopped by Gallatin Police Department ("GPD") Officers Daniel Steakin and Christopher Ford and arrested for the charge of Driving Under the Influence ("DUI").2 He was released, presumably on bond, on that charge. Several months later, he was arrested by GPD Officer Bobby Harris on November 21, 2008, on charges of Possession of a Schedule II Drug (Cocaine) for Resale, Intent to Sell a Schedule II Drug, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Subsequent to this arrest, the plaintiff was detained at the Jail because he was unable to satisfy the bond which was set by a judicial commissioner who reviewed the charges. The charge of Intent to Sell was subsequently dismissed after a preliminary hearing in January 2009. The plaintiff was later indicted on the other charges by the Sumner County Grand Jury, and the plaintiff's criminal cases were set before SumnerCounty Criminal Court Judge Dee David Gay. Lytle "Joe" James was the Assistant District Attorney prosecuting at least some of these charges on behalf of the State.
During 2009 and 2010, the plaintiff remained at the Jail as a pre-trial detainee while awaiting trial on the pending criminal charges. During this time period, he was appointed a succession of criminal defense attorneys. However, the plaintiff filed complaints with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility against the attorneys, and each appointed attorney was eventually permitted to withdraw. Although he was continuously represented by appointed counsel, the plaintiff filed numerous pro se motions related to his criminal cases, all of which were denied by Judge Gay. On January 15, 2010, Judge Gay denied motions filed by the plaintiff's appointed counsel at the time, Lawren Lassiter, to reduce the plaintiff's bond and for Judge Gay to recuse himself from the case. During this time period, the plaintiff also filed a complaint with the Disciplinary Counsel for the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary against Judge Gay. Steve Daniel was the Disciplinary Counsel representative assigned to the plaintiff's complaint.
On July 8, 2010, a fight among inmates, including the plaintiff, occurred at the Jail. The next day, the plaintiff's cell was searched, and tobacco and pills were found inside a package of food in his cell. As a result of these events, the plaintiff was charged on July 19, 2010, with possession of contraband within a penal institution and with aggravated assault. The plaintiff was also placed in administrative segregation at the Jail, where he remained until October 12, 2010. Although the aggravated assault charge was subsequently dismissed by the State, the possession of contraband charge remained pending.
During 2010, attorney Lassiter was allowed to withdraw and Sidney Preston was appointed to represent the plaintiff. On October 13, 2010, the plaintiff went to trial on the three pending drugcharges and was acquitted by a jury. However, the plaintiff remained confined at the jail as a pre-trial detainee on the DUI charge, which had not yet been tried, and on the possession of contraband charge. At some point, the plaintiff was released from the Jail on a bond on those charges.
On June 26, 2011, he was stopped by GPD Officers James Stinson and Gregory Washburn and arrested on charges of possession of a Schedule II Drug, evading arrest, driving on a suspended license, and reckless endangerment. He was released from the Jail on June 30, 2011, on a $25,000 appearance bond posted by Free Bird Bail Bonds. A hearing was subsequently held before Judge Gay on the State's motion to revoke or increase the bond and it appears that the plaintiff's bond was increased to $100,000 and he was returned to the Jail as a pretrial detainee. By this time, Preston had been replaced by James Hawkins as appointed defense counsel for the plaintiff.
On September 27, 2011, the plaintiff was acquitted of the DUI charge after a jury trial. However, Judge Gay found him guilty of violating the implied consent law and his driver's license was revoked for one year. On October 14, 2011, an execution was issued by Jennifer Resnick, a deputy clerk for the Sumner County Clerk's Office, seeking $1,024.14 for judgments entered on September 27, 2011, and on November 4, 2011, the plaintiff received a letter from the Sumner County Clerk's Office informing him that he owed fees of $433.14 as court costs for the judgments entered on September 27, 2011.
On October 13, 2011, the plaintiff's counsel sought a reduction of his bond based on his acquittal on the DUI charge, but the disposition of that motion is not clear from the record. On December 6, 2011, the plaintiff was found guilty by a jury of the charge of possession of contraband in a penal facility, and was sentenced to the custody of the TDOC. The current status of the four charges resulting from the arrest on June 26, 2011, is unknown.
In the midst of these events, the plaintiff began filing pro se and in forma pauperis civil rights complaints in this Court against many of the individuals with whom he came into contact as an arrestee and pre-trial detainee. The lead action in the consolidated cases, Antonio Freeman v. Dee David Gay, et al., 3:11-0867 ("Freeman I"), was filed on September 13, 2011, against fifteen individuals: Judge Dee David Gay, Gallatin Mayor Jo Ann Graves, bail bondsmen employees Rick Cooper and Sherry Taft, Judge James Hunter, Jr., Assistant District Attorney Lytle J. James, GPD Officers James Stinson and Gregory Washburn, Jail employees Adriel Riker, Lance Moring, Jack Babbit, and Nurse "Litisha," Jail Administrator Sonya Troutt, Disciplinary Counsel Steve Daniel, and attorney Sidney Preston. The plaintiff brings his action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 seeking several million dollars in damages, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief, based on claims that his federal constitutional rights have been violated. The claims set out in Freeman I revolve primarily around: 1) actions taken by Defendants Gay, Hunter, James, Preston in the criminal proceedings involving the plaintiff in Sumner County; 2) actions taken by Defendants Cooper and Taft concerning appearance bonds; 3) actions taken by Defendant Daniel in his handling of the judicial complaint made by the plaintiff against Defendant Gay; 4) actions taken by Defendants Stinson and Washburn in...
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