A woman is preparing to sue the county and others for damages stemming from burns and disfigurement she claims she suffered at the hands of an unsupervised inmate identified as her husband.
Felicia Ann Robinson, through attorney Matt Wilson of Starkville, filed an official notice of claim March 6. A notice of claim is the first step one takes before filing a lawsuit against a government entity. A lawsuit presents one side of a legal case.
Named as respondents (defendants) are the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Webster County, Webster County Sheriff’s Department, Tim Mitchell, Santana Townsend and “John Does 1-30.”
In describing the circumstances that brought about the injury, the notice asserts Robinson, 45, has been subject to psychological manipulation and physical abuse from her husband, Daren Patterson.
Cocaine conviction
Patterson, aka “Pap,” was convicted of felony possession of cocaine (second offense) in January 2014 and sentenced to eight years in MDOC custody, with four years to serve in prison and four years on post-release supervision (parole).
He was released from prison in January 2018. On May 30, while he was on probation, Patterson was arrested for simple assault on Eupora police officer Casey Henderson and placed in the Webster County Jail. The charging affidavit Henderson filed says Patterson hit him in the jaw on Old Walthall Road. He was also charged with possession of crack cocaine with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a church.
He was bound over to the grand jury on those charges on July 10, with bond fixed at $10,000. Because Patterson never posted bond, he remained in the legal custody of MDOC and the Sheriff’s Department from May 30-Nov. 20, the notice points out.
The latter date is when Circuit Judge George Mitchell Jr. revoked Patterson’s parole because of his May arrest. He was sentenced to serve the remaining four years of his 2014 sentence in prison.
A Webster County grand jury indicted Patterson as a habitual offender on Dec. 11 on charges of simple assault on law enforcement officer and possession of cocaine. On Jan. 31, Mitchell continued his case until the next term of court upon a joint motion of the state and public defender Stephanie Mallette. Patterson has been held at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl since Jan. 25.
Violent tendencies
The notice goes on to describe Patterson’s “violent tendencies” toward his wife before the second incident forming the basis of the claim occurred.
On Sept. 1, the notice says Mitchell, as sheriff, or his subordinates authorized Patterson to enjoy an unsupervised jail pass, “even though they knew (he) had recently caused bodily harm to a police officer and, by extension, was a threat to innocent citizens.”
That night, the notice says an intoxicated Patterson became involved in a public altercation with Robinson, hit her in the face and attempted to assault her with a moving vehicle as she fled on foot. Patterson was subsequently charged with leaving the scene of an accident by the Eupora Police Department, which alerted the WCSD of what had transpired, according to the notice.
The second incident occurred Nov. 2, when the notice says Mitchell or his subordinates gave Patterson another unsupervised jail pass, “even though they knew or should have known about (his) violent disposition toward Mrs. Robinson.” That afternoon while at Robinson’s then-home on South Joliff Street, the notice alleges Patterson threatened to burn her house, and was verbally and physically abusive throughout the evening.
After he busted a hole in a wall, the notice says Robinson called Townsend, then a jailer at the Sheriff’s Department. Instead of sending a deputy to her home to collect Patterson, the notice says Townsend gave the phone to another inmate who tried to calm him.
While both were still at home about 12:30 a.m. Nov. 3, the notice alleges Patterson threw Robinson on the bathroom floor and punched her repeatedly until she blacked out. Then, “Liquid Fire” drain cleaner containing sulfuric acid was splattered over her naked body, causing severe corrosive burns to her face, neck chest, arms and legs, according to the notice.
It says Robinson escaped to an adjacent house but Patterson grabbed her, forced her to return to her house and threw her in the shower. When Robinson eventually escaped to her car, Patterson jumped into it and insisted on going with her to the hospital (NMMC-Eupora), the notice states.
Because Robinson was being shadowed by her “abusive” husband, she told the hospital staff she slipped and fell in the Liquid Fire while cleaning, according to the notice. A city officer filed an aggravated assault offense report after being notified by a family member that she thought Patterson poured some chemicals on Robison. However, no one ever came to the police station to give a statement in order to start an investigation, according to the report included as an exhibit.
Robinson was airlifted to the Merit Health Central burn treatment center in Brandon that morning and had multiple skin grafts over weeks of hospitalization. She was discharged from the burn center on Nov. 27 but continues to need burn grafts, according to the notice.
It says she suffered second- and third-degree burns to her face, neck, chest, and upper and lower extremities. In summary, the notice claims Robinson has incurred “severe, permanent and extensive scarring over most of her body, as well as other severe physical and psychological damages.”
Seeks $30M
in damages
Robinson claims the defendants had notice that Patterson had assaulted Henderson and had attempted to run over her, and was a danger to society and to her in particular. Robinson’s suffering could have been prevented, according to the notice, if the defendants had kept Patterson within their view — either by keeping him in jail or accompanying him when he was out, or responded to Robinson’s call to the Sheriffs’ Department on the evening of Nov. 2.
The notice points out that the Mississippi Code sets the liability limits for claims such as this at $500,000 per single occurrence. However, it references an exception that reads, “Any government entity ... may be sued by anyone in excess of the amounts provide for … to the extent of the excess insurance carried.”
Robinson demands $30 million for her “physical injuries, emotional trauma, permanent disfigurement, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of future income and the deprivation of her constitutional rights.”
The Webster County Board of Supervisors discussed the matter in open session with Mitchell during their Nov. 5 board meeting. He told board members Patterson was out on a day pass for his 34th birthday, and that he picked him up and took him back to jail after learning of the incident.
On Monday, Chancery Clerk Russ Turner told supervisors he had been served with the notice of claim and the county’s insurance carrier had been notified. Board attorney Buchanan Meek Jr. recommended the county let the insurance company defend it. The board then went into executive session for pending litigation discussion with Acting Sheriff Andy McCants regarding the case. No action was taken after the board came back into open session 15 minutes later and Meek had no additional comment on behalf of the county.
Mitchell and Townsend have since been indicted on felony criminal charges unrelated to this incident. Mitchell is under house arrest but hasn’t resigned. McCants fired Townsend in January after she was indicted.
