FORT SMITH -- A jury trial has been set for a man's federal civil rights lawsuit against three law enforcement officers who were shown holding down and beating him in a video in August.
A counterclaim also has been filed in the suit.
The trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Sept. 11 in Fort Smith before U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes, according to an initial scheduling order filed Friday.
The legal team for Randal Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, S.C., filed the lawsuit Aug. 29 after Zack King and Levi White, then-deputies of the Crawford County Sheriff's Office, and officer Thell Riddle of the Mulberry Police Department were recorded using force while arresting Worcester. The arrest occurred about 10:40 a.m. Aug. 21 outside the Kountry Xpress convenience store off Interstate 40 in Mulberry. The video depicted the officers repeatedly punching and kneeing Worcester, as well as telling a bystander to get away from the scene.
One of the officers, identified as White in Worcester's lawsuit, was also shown slamming Worcester's head to the pavement.
Worcester's lawsuit accuses the three men, along with Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory, Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante, Mulberry, the Mulberry Police Department, Crawford County and the Crawford County Sheriff's Office, of violating Worcester's rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution and, by extension, federal law.
It also accuses them of committing negligence, battery and assault against Worcester.
White filed a counterclaim to the lawsuit Thursday that accuses Worcester of battery and asks for a judgment against Worcester for the damages Worcester reportedly inflicted on him Aug. 21, along with a request that the lawsuit be dismissed.
King and White are both represented by attorneys Russell Wood and Jason Owens.
White was speaking to Worcester at the Kountry Xpress when Worcester "viciously attacked" him by grabbing him around the legs and driving him back onto the concrete parking lot, according to the counterclaim. White hit his head, which knocked him unconscious, after which Worcester reportedly climbed on top of him and started hitting his face and head.
"As a direct and proximate result of conduct, White suffered a severe concussion, concussion symptoms and cuts and bruises," the counterclaim states. "White has also suffered extreme physical pain."
The extent of White's injuries has yet to be fully realized, with White being scheduled for another magnetic resonance imaging examination by his neurologist, according to the counterclaim.
The attorneys for the other defendants in this case filed their answers Sept. 20 in which they also called for Worcester's lawsuit to be dismissed, according to court records.
Worcester was arrested in connection with suspicion of second-degree battery, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, resisting arrest, possessing an instrument of crime, criminal trespass, second-degree criminal mischief and first-degree terroristic threatening after the incident, according to the Sheriff's Office's online inmate roster. He was released from jail on $15,000 bail Aug. 22.
Linda Phillips, administrative assistant for the Sheriff's Office, confirmed Thursday that King and White had been fired. They had been suspended following Worcester's arrest.
Sherry Jones, administrative assistant to the financial director of Mulberry, said Thursday that Riddle is still on administrative leave.
Attorney Emily White has said she was appointed as special prosecuting attorney for the Arkansas State Police's independent investigation into the use of force. She received the investigative file from the State Police on Sept. 2.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas, the Department of Justice and the FBI's field office in Little Rock also opened a civil rights investigation into the incident, according to authorities.
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NoneReported Alma incident
The Alma Police Department was dispatched to Sargent’s gas station off Interstate 40 in Alma at 10:10 a.m. Aug. 21.
A female clerk told police a man she later identified as Randal Worcester came in and got some water before going to sit outside the store on the south side, according to an incident report. He then moved to sit outside the front of the store, prompting the clerk to ask him to leave because he was loitering. Worcester reportedly responded by cursing the clerk and calling her a leech. He also spat on her and threatened to cut her face, the report said.
Source: Alma Police Department incident report