Jones v. City of Hattiesburg
| Decision Date | 28 June 2021 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:18-cv-84-TBM-MTP |
| Parties | ARTHUR J. JONES, JR. PLAINTIFF v. CITY OF HATTIESBURG, Detective Sergeant NEAL ROCKHOLD, Individually and as the agent of the Defendant, City of Hattiesburg DEFENDANTS |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi |
This case presents a tragic set of circumstances where a young man was killed and an innocent man was arrested for his murder and imprisoned for over eight months. On July 5, 2015, at approximately 2:09 a.m., 17-year-old Jabarri Goudy was shot and murdered in the parking lot of Club Memories in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Two days later, Arthur Jones, of Gulfport, Mississippi, was arrested for Goudy's murder.
Jones alleges that Defendants lacked probable cause to arrest and detain him for murder. It is now undisputed that Jones did not shoot Goudy and was not even in the same city on the morning of the murder. While there was no physical evidence connecting Jones to the murder scene, there was video surveillance of Jones at Club Illusions in Gulfport, Mississippi, at the approximate time of the murder. Jones alleges that Hattiesburg Detective Neal Rockhold used false and misleading information to obtain the arrest warrant, and that he deliberately concealed exculpatory evidence, causing him to be wrongfully charged and detained. Jones further alleges that Rockhold made false and misleading statements and material omissions when testifying at the preliminary hearing, impacting the finding of probable cause for his continued imprisonment.
Jones has sued the City of Hattiesburg and Detective Rockhold, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The City of Hattiesburg and Detective Rockhold, in his official capacity, are entitled to summary judgment on Jones' claims of (1) official policy or custom and (2) failure to train. Defendant Rockhold is not entitled to qualified immunity on Jones' § 1983 claims against him in his individual capacity. In the light most favorable to Jones, material questions of fact remain, as Jones has presented evidence to dispute the information relayed by Rockhold in the Arrest Warrant Affidavit and in Rockhold's testimony at the preliminary hearing. Jones has satisfied his burden of showing that there is a material issue of fact as to whether Rockhold violated his clearly established right to be free from arrest and pretrial detention without probable cause. While a jury may ultimately find in Rockhold's favor, Jones is entitled to present his case to a jury. Defendants City of Hattiesburg and Rockhold are also not entitled to summary judgment on Jones' Mississippi Tort Claims Act claim of reckless disregard. Finally, the defenses of contributory and comparative negligence are waived, as Defendants did not raise them at the appropriate time.
On July 5, 2015, at approximately 2:09 a.m., 17-year-old Jabarri Goudy was shot and murdered in the parking lot of Club Memories in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. At the time of the shooting, Goudy and his friend, Devonta Clark, were standing outside of the window of a dark colored car, arguing with the vehicle's occupants. Someone from the front seat of the vehicle shot a gun at Goudy several times, resulting in his death.
Plaintiff Arthur J. Jones, Jr. was arrested and imprisoned on murder charges related to Goudy's death from July 6, 2015 to March 12, 2016. It is now undisputed that Jones did not shootGoudy. Further, it is now undisputed that Jones was in an entirely different city when the murder took place.
At the initial phase of the investigation, detectives conducted multiple interviews with people who were at Club Memories in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on the morning of the murder.1
Devonta Clark, who was standing next to Goudy when he was shot, provided a written statement to the Hattiesburg Police Department at 4:33 a.m. on July 5, 2015. [148-1] at 23. Rockhold described Clark as "the closest person to the car with the best opportunity to observe the occupants." Id. at 2. Clark and Goudy were talking to a female in the parking lot of Club Memories in Hattiesburg at closing time. Id. at 11. Clark stated that a black Ford Fusion pulled up, and the driver began arguing with them over the female. Id. The driver pulled the female into the car and swerved the car towards Clark and Goudy. Id. When the driver pulled out a gun, Clark and Goudy started running away from the car. Id. Clark stated that six shots were fired, and that he saw Goudy fall to the ground. Id. Clark described the occupants of the vehicle as follows: "They're [sic] three people in the vehicle the driver was light skinned dressed with a black v-neck t-shirt levi pant and some black forces." [148-1] at 24.
According to Rockhold, "[o]n July 5, 2015, around [3:30 p.m.], [he] was contacted by Jabarri Goudy's father that one of the suspects was a black male from Gulfport, MS by the name of Montrelle Lee."2 [148-1] at 12. Upon receiving this information, Rockhold contacted Clark toset up a meeting. [148-1] at 2. Clark agreed to meet with Rockhold to view a lineup. Id. at 12. At their meeting later that same day, Clark picked Montrell Lee out of a six-person photo lineup and provided a written description of him as "the passenger in the vehicle that shot Jabarri [Goudy]." Id. at 29-31. At that same meeting, Clark showed Rockhold a Facebook profile picture of Jones and claimed that this was the person who shot Jabarri Goudy. Id. at 3. Finally, Clark [148-1] at 12.
Two days later, on July 7 at 10:39 a.m., Rockhold conducted another six-person photo lineup with Clark. Clark picked Timothy Donaldson from the lineup and provided a written description of him as "the shooter."3 [158-17]. Four minutes later, at 10:43 a.m., Clark participated in a second six-person photo lineup where he chose Jones and provided a written description of him as "the shooter." [148-1] at 38-40. It is undisputed that there was only one shooter involved. [148-3] at 144-47. A comparison of lineup photographs of Timothy Donaldson ([158-17]) and Jones ([148-1] at 40) reflects that these two individuals bear little to no resemblance to each other, as the individuals have different facial features and Donaldson has a close-cut hair cut while Jones has dreadlocks.
Clark also picked Keith Lee out of a six-person lineup, providing a written description of him as "the passenger in the suspect vehicle." [148-1] at 35-37. This was contrary to Clark's earlier identification of Montrell Lee as the passenger. Finally, at 10:45 a.m. on July 7, Clark pickedBrianna Patton out of a six-person photo lineup, providing a written description of her as the "girl in the suspect's car." [172-1], [148-4] at 78.4 After picking Brianna Patton out of the lineup, which was also recorded on video, Rockhold showed Clark a page that only contained Facebook photographs of Jones' girlfriend, Nijah Gray-Lane. [158-16]. Rockhold first folded the paper to show a singular photo of Gray-Lane. [163] at Exh. 29. Then, Rockhold asked Clark, Id. Clark responded in the affirmative, but he stated he was only about 65% certain. Rockhold told him to "write on there that's the female that you saw." Id. Clark complied, writing "this is the female I saw" by Gray-Lane's photograph. [158-16]. In sum, Clark identified two different people (Timothy Donaldson and Arthur Jones) as the "shooter," two different people (Montrell Lee and Keith Lee) as the male passenger, and two different people (Brianna Patton and Nijah Gray-Lane) as the female passenger.
On July 7, Tamara Rice gave a written statement to Hattiesburg Detective Jeremy Dunaway. Rice said she was in her car in the parking lot at Club Memories when she heard shots. She saw someone falling to the ground when she looked in her mirror. [158-13]. After Rice left the scene, she was "told it was the dread hed [sic] light skin guy." Id. After interviewing Rice and another female who was at the scene, Rockhold noted that "neither witness saw the suspect" in his investigative narrative. [148-1] at 14. Once Rice made her statement, Detective Dunaway conducted a six-person photo lineup with Rice which was recorded on video. Rice selected Jones' photograph and provided a written description on the form that the "photograph was that of 'Arthur Jones J. I saw him standing outside with homeboy.'" Id. at 41-43. When DetectiveDunaway asked her to document how certain she was that Jones was on the scene, using a 0-100% scale, she wrote "0-100% I saw this guy standing outside with a homeboy" next to Jones' photograph. [148-1] at 42; [163] at Exh. 26. When asked if she was 100% certain that she saw Jones outside, she shook her head in a negative way and stated "it was somebody that looked like him but I don't ... but like ... (unintelligible)." [163] at Exh. 26.
Jerry Carney, who was interviewed a couple hours after the murder, stated that he did not get a good look at the driver and only saw his arm. [163] at Exh. 28. At his second interview, on July 7, when asked whether he had seen the driver or the passenger, Carney shook his head from left to right and stated "No ... I did not ... I did not ... uh ... the driver had dreads." Id. After indicating a second time in his recorded interview that he did not see the driver, he ultimately picked Jones out of a photo lineup, and provided a written description that "[t]his is the person who shot Jabarri." [148-1] at 47. In his deposition, Rockhold admitted that Carney did not make a positive identification of Jones. [148-3] at 165.
Naporsha Thompson was also interviewed when she...
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