Smith v. Town of S. Hill
| Decision Date | 20 March 2020 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 3:19cv46 |
| Citation | 611 F.Supp.3d 148 |
| Parties | Violet A. SMITH, as administrator of the estate of Sabin Marcus Jones, deceased, Plaintiff, v. TOWN OF SOUTH HILL, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia |
William Henry O'Brien, Doummar & O'Brien, Virginia Beach, VA, for Plaintiff.
David P. Corrigan, Leslie A. Winneberger, Saemi Murphy, Harman Claytor Corrigan & Wellman, Richmond, VA, Carlene Booth Johnson, Perry Law Firm PC, Dillwyn, VA, for Defendants.
This matter comes before the Court on four motions:
Plaintiff Violet A. Smith, in her capacity as the administrator of the estate of Sabin Marcus Jones, responded to each of the Motions to Dismiss, (ECF Nos. 33–36), and the Defendants responded, (ECF Nos. 37–40).
These matters are ripe for adjudication. The Court dispenses with oral argument because the materials before it adequately present the facts and legal contentions, and argument would not aid the decisional process. The Court exercises jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331(a).2 For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant the Sheriff Defendants Motion to Dismiss; the Parrott and Zincone Motion to Dismiss; and, the South Hill Defendants Motion to Dismiss. The Court will also grant in part and deny in part the Officer Watters Motion to Dismiss. The Court will allow only Smith's § 1983 excessive force claim to continue against Officer Watters in his individual capacity.
Smith brings this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 19834 and 1985(3)5 against thirty-three defendants, including twenty unnamed police officers "whose identities are currently known by Defendants but unknown by" Smith. (Am. Compl. ¶ 36, ECF No. 23.) Smith's claims arise from the death of Sabin Marcus Jones, a mentally ill individual who died after being tased by Officer Watters, and perhaps others, while members of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department and the South Hill Police Department attempted to take Jones into custody pursuant to an Emergency Custody Order issued by a Virginia magistrate based upon the affidavit of Jones's aunt.
In the Amended Complaint, which contains numerous legal conclusions and arguments, Smith explains that on December 29, 2016, Jones "had been admitted to the Virginia Beach Psychiatric Center." (Am. Compl. ¶ 79.) Approximately one week later, on January 6, 2017, Jones "was discharged." (Id. ¶ 80.) Two weeks later, on January 20, 2017, Jones's aunt Sheila Holmes "determined [that] her nephew had not been taking his prescribed medications." (Id. ¶ 81.) At 10:50 a.m. on that day, Holmes "went to the South Hill Police Department to request that they place [Jones] in custody under an Emergency Custody Order." (Id. ) Smith posits that Jones's "mental status and mental illness had been long known to the South Hill Police." (Id. ¶ 82.)
"The South Hill Police went to pick up [Jones] at his house...but he was not there." (Id. ¶ 83.) Approximately three hours after she had requested the Emergency Custody Order, at 2:00 p.m., Holmes found Jones "parked at the EZ Convenient Stop store in South Hill and called the police." (Id. ¶ 84.)
Within fifteen minutes, at 2:15 p.m., "eight police officers from the South Hill Police Department and the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office found [Jones] still in his parked car at the EZ Convenient Stop." (Id. ¶ 85.) The officers "walked up to the car and [Jones] turned his car on to drive away." (Id. ¶ 86.) "Two officers blocked his vehicle with their cruisers." (Id. ¶ 87.) "Two South Hill officers instructed [Jones] to get out of the car but he refused." (Id. ¶ 88.) Smith asserts that Jones "was unarmed and contained within his vehicle and posed no danger to the officers who outnumbered him." (Id. ¶ 90.)
"[A]n officer then broke the driver's side window." (Id. ¶ 92.) Jones "moved to the passenger side of the vehicle." (Id. ¶ 93.) "A second officer then broke the passenger side window and opened the door and removed him from the vehicle." (Id. ¶ 94.)
"Officers had removed their guns" but Holmes " (Id. ¶ 95.) "Then the officers put their guns away and took out their tasers." (Id. ¶ 96.)
"The officers attempted to get [Jones] on the ground and they tased him multiple times." (Id. ¶ 97.) "Officer Wat[t]ers deployed his taser[6 ] and struck Jones in the chest." (Id. ¶ 98.) Holmes "observed [Jones's] eyeballs rolling into the back of his head." (Id. ¶ 100.) Smith asserts that "[t]he officers continued to tase [Jones] as he was pinned to the pavement." (Id. ¶ 101.) "While [Jones] was laying on the ground, a police officer retrieved a rag from his vehicle and placed [it] in [Jones's] mouth." (Id. ¶ 102.) "As [Jones] groaned, an officer yelled, ‘Do you want to do this?’ " (Id. ¶ 103.) "While on the ground, [Jones] became non[ ]responsive." (Id. ¶ 104.)
After Jones became non responsive, an unidentified officer put him "into the back of a police van and took him to the hospital." (Id. ¶ 105.) "Major Edwards[7 ] called...Holmes three times and told her to meet [them] at the hospital." (Id. ¶ 106.)
Once at the hospital, the officers advised Holmes that "[Jones] had died on the way to the hospital." (Id. ¶ 107.) However, after being transported to a different hospital, Jones "was placed on a ventilator for [five] days and ultimately died on January 24, 2017." (Id. ¶ 109.)
Smith includes an excerpt from the pathologist/medical examiner's report, which includes his findings from the autopsy. ( Id. ¶ 110.) The pathologist listed Jones's cause of death as "[c]omplications of anoxic brain injury
due to excited delirium syndrome associated with schizophrenia, physical exertion and conducted electrical weapon use." (Id. ¶ 111 (emphasis omitted).)
Smith also quotes from the report following the Virginia State Police's investigation (the "Police Report"), saying:
At approximately 2:40 p.m. Friday, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office was following up on an Emergency Custody Order...requested by a family member for Sabin M. Jones, 44, of South Hill, Va. A family member advised the deputies that Jones was at a convenience store/gas station in the 800 block of North Mecklenburg Avenue in the town of South Hill. The deputies located Jones inside a late[ ]model Chevrolet Camaro at the convenience store/gas station. When the deputies approached him to serve the [Emergency Custody Order], he refused to exit his vehicle. He backed into one of the deputies' vehicles and then began driving forward, at which time additional deputies, with the assistance of South Hill Police, were able to block the Camaro from leaving the parking lot. Despite the deputies' and officers' repeated attempts to talk to Jones and have him exit his locked vehicle, he refused and became increasingly agitated. To prevent Jones from harming himself inside the vehicle, a deputy broke open one of the vehicle's windows and negotiations continued with Jones in an attempt to calm him down and get him to safely exit the Camaro. When Jones began kicking and punching the inside of the Camaro, a deputy broke open a second window on the car. Jones then exited the vehicle in an aggressive manner towards the deputies and officers. As the deputies and officers attempted to apprehend Jones, he became increasingly combative. One of the South Hill Police Officers deployed his Taser to bring Jones under control. After the deployment, Jones remained noncompliant with the deputies' and officers' commands as they attempted to handcuff him. Jones also began banging his head against the ground. Due to Jones'[s] heightened state of agitation and contact with the Taser, he was transported to VCU Health Community Hospital in South Hill. The hospital then transferred Jones to the VCU Medical Center in Richmond, where he passed away Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. His remains were transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond for autopsy and examination. At the request of Mecklenburg County Sheriff R.W. "Bobby" Hawkins Jr. and South Hill Police Chief Stuart Bowen, the Virginia State Police is investigating the incident. The investigation remains ongoing at this time.[8 ]
(Id. ¶ 112.)
Smith originally filed suit in this Court. The Defendants then each moved to dismiss and, in response, Smith filed the Amended Complaint as a matter of right.
Smith brings six counts in the Amended Complaint:
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