LITTLE ROCK — A lawyer representing Miller County said Monday that officials never investigated allegations that two jailers beat an inmate so badly last year that he had to be hospitalized at least five times before he eventually died two weeks ago.
Derrick Henry, 28, of Texarkana, filed a federal lawsuit against the county on Oct. 12, five days before he died, alleging two unnamed jailers "savagely" beat him on or before Nov. 15, 2006, and then failed to get him medical treatment in a timely manner.
C. Burt Newell, a Hot Springs attorney representing the county in the lawsuit, said Monday that no investigation was ever conducted into the matter, although he said the jailers have denied any wrongdoing. It is unclear exactly what happened to Henry and how he sustained the injuries, Newell said.
"We will deny that two jailers caused Mr. Henry any harm," Newell said. "We know the guy had some serious problems, but we don't know for sure whether he had some or all of those problems at the point he was admitted [into the Miller County Detention Center on Nov. 9, 2006, for failing to pay child support]. That's possible. The other possibility is that his cellmate didsomething to him."
Robert W. Weber, a Texarkana, Texas, attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Henry, declined comment on the case.
The complaint he filed, however, alleges a series of improprieties on the part of Miller County officials.
As a result of the beating, the lawsuit says, Henry sustained severe injuries and nearly died immediately. He suffered fractures of the jaw, a closed head injury, a spleen laceration, a collapsed lung, a joint dislocation and the loss of seven teeth, the lawsuit said.
Henry also suffered psychological injuries including confusion, anxiety, agitation, paranoia and post-traumatic stress disorder, the lawsuit says.
His hospital bills at the time the complaint was filed on Oct. 12, topped $312,579. The lawsuit says Miller County paid $8,044 for Henry's medical care, which according to Newell covered Henry's initial emergency room visit.
On Wednesday, Newell filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming it should have been filed in U.S. District for the Western District of Arkansas because the plaintiff and defendants are all from Arkansas. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, where Henry received medical care.
Since the alleged beating, Henry had to have his mouth wired shut and his spleen surgically removed, the lawsuit says.
For two days, the lawsuit alleges, Henry waited for medical treatment in the Miller County jail despite a life-threatening need for treatment.
The lawsuit alleges officers took Henry to the Area Health Education Center, advising the doctor there that Henry was suffering from an abscessed tooth. The physician, however, examined Henry and determined he had been assaulted and that officers needed to take him to the emergency room at the Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana, Texas, the lawsuit says.
After transporting Henry to Wadley, "officers concocted another story and told emergency room personnel that Henry had been hitting himself and banging his head against the wall and described him as having a psychiatric history," the lawsuit says.
"These statements were knowingly false and made in a continuing effort to cover up the beating," the lawsuit says.
Emergency personnel put Henry on life support to sustain his breathing before air-lifting him to Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas.
Officers then released Henry as an inmate from the jail "in an obvious and unconstitutional attempt" to avoid having to pay for his medical bills, the lawsuit alleges.
Newell said the allegations in the complaint are false.
Newell said Henry was admitted to the jail with an infection in his mouth, and that it may have gotten progressively worse while in custody.
"We acknowledge the guyhad some infections in his mouth; there's no doubt about that," Newell said. "We just believe we provided him with proper adequate care as soon as he needed it. He never said anything. He never made a complaint about needing any help until the morning we took him to the doctor, and at that point he clearly needed help."
Newell said it's safe to assume Henry "may have had some emotional problems" based on his behavior in jail. Efforts to reach Henry's family in Texarkana failed Monday. A number listed for his mother, Gloria Hunter, was no longer in service. His brothers, Charles Hunter Jr. and Matthew Hunter, are not listed on www.switchboard.com, an Internet telephone directory.
Speaking of his mental state, Newell said Henry threw feces at the jailers, and Miller County Chief Deputy Sheriff Tommy Hollin said Henry's body was covered in waste at the time of the alleged beating.
The lawsuit claims jailers inappropriately put him in a cell with a mentally ill detainee, Vinson Marks, who would "throw or rub feces on windows, kick the windows, make screaming noises and generally cause trouble for the jail guards."
Henry is the only named plaintiff in the lawsuit. Listed as defendants are Miller County, Miller County Judge Roy J. Mc-Natt, former Sheriff H.L. Phillips, former Warden Mike Griffen, Lt. Janice Nicholson, Sgt. Renee Wright and two unknown officers employed by Miller County. The case number is 507-CV-154.
Arkansas, Pages 7, 14 on 10/30/2007