Jurors are scheduled to return to the federal courts building in Little Rock today for a rare Saturday session after they became partially deadlocked Friday on whether Saline County or its jailers are responsible for an inmate's 2011 death.
The panel of six men and six women indicated in a note in late afternoon that they had agreed on 16 questions but couldn't go any further. The jury form requires them to answer 18 questions before, depending on their findings, proceeding to the remaining five questions.
The first 18 interrogatories include two questions apiece on each of nine jailers present as Casey Babovec, 30, overdosed on methamphetamine April 13, 2011, a few hours after being jailed on an outstanding warrant and after being pulled out of a cell where he was fighting with another inmate.
Jailers trying to restrain Babovec to handcuff him ended up in a pile on the floor, with Babovec on the bottom, as captured from above by a jail camera that didn't provide a close-up view of the melee.
Jailers denied they were pressing on Babovec too hard, while Babovec's mother contends they used excessive force, causing him to stop breathing, as evidenced by his loss of bladder and bowel functions.
An autopsy found that Babovec died of methamphetamine intoxication after two 1-gram packets of methamphetamine that he swallowed when being pulled over during a traffic stop ruptured inside his stomach.
The autopsy said the exertion he experienced during the struggle also played a role in his death.
Two female inmates who saw the struggle, one from behind a book-in counter and the other from a bench in the area where the struggle occurred, testified that they heard Babovec say, "I'm not resisting. I can't breathe."
Jailers denied that Babovec said anything as they tried to hold down his arms and legs to handcuff him, saying they were worried that he could harm other inmates, jailers or himself. They said he made noises, including a snoring sound, that indicated he was breathing, but an expert witness for the plaintiffs testified that the sounds indicated that Babovec was dying. He said jailers should have been trained to recognize the signs of drug intoxication and should have called for medical help.
The verdict form and the judge's instructions require the jurors to decide if the greater weight of the evidence shows that any of the jailers used excessive force or were deliberately indifferent to Babovec's medical needs.
If they answer "yes" to any one of those questions, they are required to consider whether the excessive force or indifference was the fault of the sheriff for failure to properly train the jailers, or the fault of the county or the sheriff for lacking an official policy on how to handle such situations.
They also must decide if compensatory damages are warranted and if so, how much.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker gave jurors the "Allen charge," encouraging them to try to reach a verdict, and left it up to them to decide whether to continue deliberating Friday night or to return another day. Jurors asked to return at 9 a.m. today.
Metro on 01/31/2015