Attorneys for man in civil rights suit oppose summary judgment
Attorneys representing Jauan Porter counter a motion for summary judgment filed by attorneys for former Floyd County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Matthew Battle, who is a defendant in a federal lawsuit alleging he used excessive force in a January 2017 incident
Attorneys representing a Rome man in a federal lawsuit alleging his civil rights were violated by a former Floyd County Sheriff’s Office deputy during a January 2017 incident at the jail have filed a motion opposing summary judgment.
On July 11, attorneys Tony Mathis and Timothy McCalep filed the motion on their client Jauan Porter’s behalf to counter a motion for summary judgment filed in June by attorneys representing former Sgt. Matthew Battle.
The lawsuit, filed in the Rome division of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in November 2017, from Porter demands a jury trial. The latest motion from his attorneys opposes having a judge decide the merits of the suit, something Battle’s attorneys are seeking with their motion.
Battle was a 14-year veteran of the sheriff’s office when he was fired in February 2017, following an internal investigation into the incident on Jan. 8, 2017. He was placed on leave five days after the incident. The internal investigation was opened after a meeting between Porter’s mother and a jail administrator.
The lawsuit alleges Battle used excessive force by using his taser on Porter while he was in handcuffs at the jail. Prior to deploying the taser, Battle allegedly told Porter he would use it on him if he continued to read medical consent forms out loud, according to the lawsuit.
“(Porter) has difficulty reading and he reads out loud to help understand and comprehend what he is reading,” the lawsuit stated.
After he was threatened by Battle, Porter continued to read from the forms, which were to give consent for a blood sample to be drawn, out loud, according to the lawsuit. He was then tased and “screamed out in agony and fell to the ground,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit also includes as a defendant another officer of the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the incident, but only refers to this person as “officer John Doe.” The suit does not indicate whether or not this officer still works for the sheriff’s office.
“Officer John Doe witnessed the threat and assault and did not intervene to protect (Porter),” the lawsuit stated.
A news release from the sheriff’s office, sent out after Battle was fired, said Porter was intoxicated when he “refused to comply with jail officials and was subsequently tased.” The release also noted he was injured and upset.
“Whether it involves a 14-year veteran like Mr. Battle or a new deputy just beginning his career, misconduct of any kind will not be tolerated,” Cpl. Carrie Edge said at the time of Battle being fired as a direct result of the internal investigation.
Before being taken to the jail by a Rome police officer, the lawsuit claims Porter was assaulted by four unidentified people and requested help from police.
According to Rome police reports, Porter was arrested early on the morning of Jan. 8 after he got inside a woman’s car on Tammassee Lane to ask for help but then refused to get out. He initially fled from police when an officer arrived but then fell down, reports stated. He told police he had been attacked by several men, reports stated.
Once at the jail, the arresting officer was told Porter needed a medical clearance from a doctor at the hospital before he could be booked into jail, the sheriff’s office news release stated. While the officer was relaying this information to the department’s watch commander on duty, Porter was tased, the release stated.
Porter was deemed medically unfit to be booked into the jail by medical personnel there, both the news release and lawsuit stated.
A Rome police officer then left the jail with Porter and dropped him off at “the front of Floyd Medical Center and released him on a citation,” according to Rome police reports.
The lawsuit claims that Porter was not dropped off at the front of the hospital but across the street, leaving “him in a helpless state.”