Dismiss 2nd injury lawsuit filed by killer of Arkansas real estate agent, judge advises

Arron Lewis
Arron Lewis

Nearly a year after a federal judge threw out convicted murderer Arron Lewis' lawsuit alleging that two Pulaski County deputies dislocated his shoulder in 2014, another lawsuit Lewis filed over a shoulder injury is facing dismissal as well.

A Pulaski County Circuit Court jury convicted Lewis in January 2016 of kidnapping and capital murder in the September 2014 death of real estate agent Beverly Carter, whom he lured to an isolated house by pretending he was interested in buying it. He was sentenced to two life terms in prison.

In an excessive force lawsuit that led to a two-day nonjury trial in federal court in April, Lewis complained that the deputies twisted his arm out of its socket while questioning him in the 50-year-old real estate agent's disappearance. But U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson found in favor of the deputies, calling Lewis' account "not believable," and saying he suspected the shoulder injury occurred when Lewis jumped off a balcony in an effort to avoid arrest.

Now a federal magistrate judge has recommended the dismissal of another federal lawsuit Lewis filed in 2015.

[REALTOR MURDER: Arron Lewis found guilty of kidnapping and killing Beverly Carter]

That lawsuit alleges that Pulaski County jailers used excessive force against him and that a Pulaski County prosecuting attorney was deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs when he was transported to the jail from prison in May 2015 so he could review evidence against him before his murder trial. Lewis was in prison after his parole in an earlier case had been revoked.

But U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth Deere has recommended that U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright throw out the lawsuit, saying Lewis hasn't presented any information to support his allegations and that she believes "no reasonable juror could credit Mr. Lewis' version of events."

Lewis contends that when he refused to take a shower upon his transfer to the jail, he was pepper-sprayed, tackled, slammed to the floor and struck twice in the back, possibly with a baton, and then his right arm was forced behind his back, dislocating his shoulder. He further alleges that one of the jailers then sprayed him in the mouth with pepper spray and slammed his head against the ground while laughing.

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Lewis also complained that a jailer told him Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Johnson denied Lewis' request to go to the hospital until he had reviewed the evidence he had come to see, which took more than two hours.

"Here, there is no dispute that, at some point, Mr. Lewis suffered from a serious medical need that required emergency treatment," Deere wrote.

But she said that the Eighth Amendment doesn't prohibit officers from using force to regain control of a noncompliant inmate, which is what appeared to happen after Lewis refused direct orders despite several warnings that he would otherwise be sprayed.

Deere also said that according to both Johnson and the jailer accused of relaying Lewis' message to Johnson, no jailer forwarded any complaint from Lewis to Johnson, and any such complaint would have been relayed to a supervising officer instead of the prosecutor anyway.

Deere noted that video and audio footage of Lewis' time in the jail library showed he never complained of shoulder pain nor requested medical treatment, though at one point he said his hand was changing color.

The judge also cited Lewis' medical records, which state that he is a "well known voluntary dislocator."

Metro on 03/27/2017

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