The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned a lower court’s ruling in favor of the family of a Forrest City man who walked away from a residential care facility and was later found dead.
The court found that Circuit Judge L.T. Simes used the wrong standard when he denied a request from thefacility’s behavioral services provider for more time to respond to a lawsuit filed by the family.
Judge John Pittman wrote in the court’s opinion that Simes applied the wrong rule under the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure by requiring the provider to “show cause” for an extension, which would “normally be granted in the absence of bad faith.”
“It is true that a motion to extend time to file an answer is not a substitute for filing an answer and does not automatically extend the time for filing an answer … But that is not the issue here,” Pittman wrote.
The court remanded the case for further proceedings in the lower court.
Dion Wilson, an attorney for the family, did not return a phone message seeking comment.
In April 2013, the family of Antonio Cozart filed a lawsuit against Logan Centers Inc. in St. Francis County. Cozart walked away from the West Memphis Residential Care facility on Dec. 3, 2012, and was found dead in the Mississippi River months later, according to the complaint.
According to court filings, Logan Centers provided mental-health services for Cozart, who was schizophrenic. Butthe company denied ownership or management of the facility that Cozart walked away from before his death.
The lawsuit included claims that Logan Centers had failed to adopt or follow procedures for monitoring patients and had failed to properly monitor how medication was dispensed.
Rebecca Adelman, an attorney who represented the company, declined to comment on the case.
The family sought an unspecified amount in damages for pain and suffering, loss of life, and medical and funeral expenses.
Logan Centers asked the court for more time to file its initial response to the lawsuit, but the family objected to any extension and requested default judgment in its favor.
On Aug. 16, Simes entered an order granting default judgment to the family and informing both parties that a separate hearing would be held to determine damages.
Logan Centers appealed the ruling, arguing that the court erred when it denied the extension.
Pittman wrote that in Simes’ ruling, the judge applied a “more stringent standard” than what was applicable in the case. Simes instead used the standard for when an extension is requested after the time period for the request has passed.
“A showing of mistake (or inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect) is necessary under [the Rules of Civil Procedure] only when the motion for extension of time is filed after the applicable filing period has already expired,” Pittman wrote. “When a motion is made before the filing period has expired those factors need not be shown, and it is necessary only the ‘show cause’ under the less stringent standard.”
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 04/03/2014