Plaintiff sought damages in acid attack case
A federal judge has found in favor of Webster County and other defendants who were sued by the victim of an acid attack from an unsupervised inmate.
Felicia Ann Robinson filed the lawsuit June 17 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Named as defendants were Webster County, the Webster County Sheriff’s Department, former Sheriff Tim Mitchell, former Dispatcher Santana Townsend and Robinson’s husband, Daren “Pap”” Patterson.
U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock made her ruling in a 24-page order and memorandum opinion filed March 11. She dismissed federal claims against all of the defendants except Patterson, for whom default was entered.
Factual background
Webster County Chancery Court records show Robinson (now 46) and Patterson (now 35), who were married in 2013, filed a joint bill for irreconcilable differences divorce in July 2017. However, no divorce was ever granted.
The factual background that follows is taken from Aycock’s order:
In May 2018, Patterson was arrested by the Webster County Sheriff’s Department for assaulting a police officer (Eupora Officer Casey Henderson) and for possession of crack cocaine. After failing to post bond, Patterson remained in custody at the county jail until November 2018. According to Robinson’s complaint, while Patterson was in custody, Mitchell appointed him as a trusty of the jail.
Mitchell granted him a “weekend pass” on the weekend of Nov. 2, 2018. Robinson contends that, during this weekend pass, Patterson subjected her to “malicious and sadistic” abuse. Specifically, Robinson alleged that on the afternoon of Nov. 2, Patterson threw a beer can at her, punched her in the face and threatened to burn down her home in Eupora. Later that evening, Patterson allegedly punched a hole in the wall of Robinson’s home and subjected her to verbal and physical abuse, causing Robinson to fear for her life.
At approximately 9:23 p.m. that night, Robinson made a call to Townsend, who was a dispatcher with Webster County at the time, seeking law enforcement assistance. Robinson purportedly placed the call to Townsend’s cell phone, however, Townsend disputes that this phone call ever occurred in her answer and a counterclaim.
Townsend did not dispatch law enforcement to Robinson’s residence but instead placed another trusty on the phone to speak to Patterson to calm him down. Patterson became even more agitated following the phone conversation and never left Robinson’s residence. Law enforcement was never dispatched to Robinson’s home.
At approximately 12:30 a.m. the following morning, Patterson, while still in an enraged state, purportedly threw Robinson on the bathroom floor, punched her repeatedly and poured “Liquid Fire” on her in an apparent attempt to burn her alive.
After a struggle, Robinson eventually escaped from Patterson and tried to travel to the hospital to seek treatment for her injuries, which included significant burns. She was unable to leave the residence without Patterson and she traveled to the hospital with him in the passenger seat of her vehicle.
When Robinson and Patterson arrived at the hospital in the early morning hours of Nov. 3, Robinson received extensive medical treatment for her injuries and was later transferred to a burn treatment center in Brandon. Patterson eventually returned to the Webster County Jail and was later released to state custody (see details further on).
Lawsuit Claims
Robinson’s complaint set forth 18 different counts, including various civil rights and state law claims, and requested compensatory ($30 million) and punitive damages.
She asserted a litany of state law claims, including claims for assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Patterson; failure to supervise an inmate and negligent infliction of emotional distress claims against Webster County, the sheriff’s office, Mitchell and Townsend; and a gross negligence claim against Webster County, the WCSD and Townsend in her representative capacity.
Robinson also asserted various civil rights claims against Patterson, as well as separate claims against the county and sheriff’s office on the basis that those entities were liable for Patterson’s purported violations of her constitutional rights. Robinson also asserted a claim for failure to train and supervise against Webster County, the WCSD and Mitchell.
Townsend responded to Robinson’s complaint by filing an answer and counterclaim, asserting that many allegations in Robinson’s complaint were false and constituted defamation of character. Although Patterson was served with process on June 20, he has not filed an answer or any other responsive pleading in the cause, and the clerk has entered a default against him.
On Aug. 15, Webster County, the WCSD, Mitchell and Townsend filed a joint motion seeking dismissal of all duplicate official capacity claims against Mitchell and Townsend. The sheriff’s office also moved for dismissal on the basis that it lacks capacity to be sued. Webster County filed a separate motion seeking dismissal of all claims against it, and Mitchell filed a separate motion for judgment on the pleadings, contending he was entitled to qualified immunity.
Additionally, Robinson filed a motion for judgment as to Townsend’s counterclaim. Finally, Robinson filed a motion to strike, arguing that Webster County should be judicially estopped from contending that Patterson was not in its custody at the time of the subject incident.
Analysis, Discussion
In its defense, Webster County asserted that on the night in question, Patterson never posted bond, was illegally released and held the status of an escapee, and therefore was not in the county’s custody. Referring to the Notice of Criminal Disposition filed in the case, Aycock said it contained no warranty that Patterson’s period of confinement was continuous and found no reason to imply that the county made such a representation.
“Therefore, the fact that Patterson was granted a furlough during the period of his confinement does not necessarily render Webster County’s position in this case inconsistent with the (notice). … The actual control, or lack thereof, that Webster County exercised over Patterson … should govern the issue of liability in this case, ” Aycock wrote.
The official capacity claims against Mitchell and Townsend were dismissed because Aycock said Robinson’s claims against them in their respective official capacities were duplicative of her claims against Webster County.
In accordance with well-settled authority, the court also found that the Sheriff’s Department lacks the capacity to be sued and was therefore dismissed as a defendant. Aycock said Webster County is the proper entity against which Robinson’s claims should be made.
In their separate motions for judgment on the pleadings, Webster County sought judgment in its favor on all civil rights claims asserted against it, and Mitchell argued that all claims asserted against him in his individual capacity should be dismissed pursuant to the qualified immunity doctrine.
“Other than the fact that he was on furlough, Patterson had no connection to Webster County whatsoever,” Aycock wrote. The court found that, even taking all of Robinson’s allegations as true, Patterson was acting in his private capacity at the time and had no connection to the county.
“Webster County did not impose any restriction on Robinson’s ability to act on her own behalf,” Aycock also wrote. “Although Patterson, a private individual, was purportedly in an enraged state at her residence, Robinson maintained liberty to flee or take other steps to protect herself.”
Aycock said other claims by Patterson failed as a matter of law, in part because her injuries were inflicted by a private party.
“[T]he court finds the fact that Patterson was appointed as a trusty by Sheriff Mitchell irrelevant to the analysis, as Patterson was not acting in his furtherance of his duties as a trusty when he was released on furlough,” Aycock stated.
Conclusion
In summary, Aycock made these rulings:
• Robinson’s motion for a hearing to make oral arguments on pending motions and her motion to strike were denied. The defendants’ motions for judgment on the pleadings concerning improper parties were granted.
• All official capacity claims against Mitchell and Townsend, as well as all claims against the WCSD, were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they can’t be brought forth again.
• Webster County and Mitchell’s motions for judgment on the pleadings were granted as to all federal claims asserted by Robinson. All federal claims against the county, Mitchell and Townsend were dismissed with prejudice.
• The court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over all state law claims. They were dismissed without prejudice, meaning those claims could be brought forth in another legal action in Webster County Circuit Court.
• Robinson’s motion for judgment on the pleadings as to the counterclaim by Townsend was dismissed without prejudice. The court retained jurisdiction solely as to Robinson’s claims against Patterson, for which default has been entered because he failed to file a responsive pleading.
Robinson was represented by Starkville attorney Matt Wilson. Webster County was represented by attorneys Daniel and Mary McKay Griffith of Cleveland. Mitchell and Townsend, individually, were represented by Brookhaven attorney William R. Allen.
Prison Sentence
Patterson’s May 2018 arrest occurred while he was on supervised release following a January 2014 conviction for felony drug possession. He had been sentenced then to serve four years in Mississippi Department of Corrections custody and four years on post-release supervision.
Circuit Judge George Mitchell Jr. revoked his post-release supervision on Nov. 20, 2018, and Patterson was sentenced to serve the remaining four years of the eight-year sentence from 2014 in prison. In January 2019, he was transferred from the county jail to a state facility.
Patterson was indicted in December 2018 on charges of simple assault on a law enforcement officer and possession of cocaine, and again indicted in May 2019 on charges of aggravated assault upon Robinson and kidnapping her on Nov. 2, 2018. Patterson was indicted both times with sentence enhancements as a habitual offender for previous felony convictions. He was subsequently arraigned on both two-count indictments, during which he pleaded not guilty.
On Jan. 13 of this year, Patterson pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, for which he received a 20-year prison sentence from Judge Mitchell. After 17 years, he is to be released and placed on three years of post-release supervision, according to the judgment.
Judge Mitchell dismissed the kidnapping charge and habitual offender sentence enhancement upon motion of the state. Also as part of the plea agreement and upon motion of the state, Judge Mitchell dismissed the other indictment for simple assault on a law enforcement officer and possession of cocaine. He was also given credit for time served.
On the same date, Judge Mitchell denied a defense motion for mental examination.
MDOC online records show Patterson has been housed at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl since March 10.
