U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. granted partial summary judgment Friday in a federal lawsuit filed in 2012 by a former Phillips County jail inmate against the county sheriff and the Helena-West Helena police chief.
The lawsuit accused then-Sheriff Ronnie White of having an unconstitutional policy at the jail in which he waited on the district court to “call” for defendants to appear, but the filing said that in many cases, the court didn’t know that defendants had been arrested and needed initial court appearances. Neal Byrd has since become sheriff.
Marshall said in his Friday order that plaintiff Gary Covington’s constitutional rights were violated when he was held in the Phillips County jail for 39 days without an initial appearance in court, but the ruling noted it was unclear who was responsible.
Covington was arrested after a traffic stop for a broken taillight. Police accused him of being combative, and he accused them of beating him.
Helena-West Helena Police Chief Uless Wallace had argued that he was entitled to qualified immunity in the case because Phillips County, not the city, denied Covington his rights.
The order states that Byrd acknowledges that Covington didn’t receive a timely first appearance and notes that Phillips County has partial responsibility for the events. Therefore, the court granted Covington’s motion regarding Byrd’s liability.
Covington’s suit, filed by attorney Luther Sutter, had proposed class status. Marshall said in the order that determining how his finding of partial liability would affect the proposed class issue was a matter “for a later day.”
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 03/22/2014