Officers, sheriff's deputies sued; brutality in county jail alleged
Joplin Globe
Sat September 22, 2007
Area: Springfield, MO
CASSVILLE, Missouri - A Butterfield woman is suing three Barry County Sheriff's deputies and four Cassville police officers in federal court alleging they brutalized her July 23 in jail.
Melissa A. Norman, 41, alleges in the suit that the officers used a Taser gun against her multiple times after she was "handcuffed, leg shackled, hog-tied and blindfolded" while she was at the jail. She further alleges the officers taunted and shouted at her.
Named as defendants in the litigation are Barry County Sheriff's deputies Kris Buckholz, Joey Griffith and Lawrence House, and Cassville police officers Michael Moore, Willie Stephens, Steve Vulmer and Bill Watkins.
Six of the seven were placed on administrative leave in late July pending the completion of an investigation into the incident by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Cassville police Chief Lonnie McCullough Sr. would not comment on the case or the three officers.
"Our attorneys are handling it," he said. "Allegations can be made, but we have to prove our case in a court of law, not in the newspapers."
A phone message left for Barry County Sheriff Mickey Epperly was not returned Thursday.
Although neither were present during the incident, both Epperly and McCullough also have been named as co-defendants in the suit because of their roles as agency supervisors.
John Lewright, a Cassville attorney representing Norman, said all three Sheriff's deputies and three of the Cassville police officers are no longer with their respective departments.
"I think there are a lot of great police officers, but there seems to be a growing problem with some officers being insensitive to what their job is," Lewright said. "I think their job is to enforce the laws and protect people."
Norman, according to the lawsuit, contacted a law enforcement officer at his home on July 23 because she was having "personal difficulties." Epperly previously told the Globe that Norman had contacted an off-duty Sheriff's deputy at his home because she had suicidal notions.
The off-duty Sheriff's deputy summoned an ambulance to Norman's home after receiving the call. Norman was transported to St. John's Hospital in Cassville, but voluntarily left the hospital not long thereafter.
Norman stated in her petition that she was later approached by a group law enforcement officers. McCullough told the Globe that both county deputies and Cassville police officers were notified about Norman's departure from the hospital and sought to pick her up again out of concern for her well-being.
Norman claims in her suit that she was "tackled, handcuffed and leg-shackled" while one officer was "digging his knee into (her) neck so she could not breathe." The officers then "yanked (her) by the cuffs off the ground and threw her into the back of a patrol car," according to the suit.
Epperly said Norman became combative and had to be restrained with handcuffs and leg shackles after officers encountered her.
"She was very combative during all this and wanting to do bodily harm to herself," the sheriff previously said.
He said the woman was taken to the jail and left lying in the booking area, where she began hitting her head on a concrete floor. He said officers tried to get her to stop, even placing a towel around her head to cushion her from the blows she was rendering, but she would not stop.
Norman alleges that she started hitting her head because she was terrified after the officers began circling and taunting her. She was allegedly hog-tied, blindfolded and lying on the floor when the Taser was used.
"The law enforcement officers Tasered (Norman) in the stomach multiple times, and each time (she) would scream for the law enforcement officers to stop, but they would not," Lewright wrote in the suit. "The law enforcement officers kept shouting, name-calling and taunting (her)."
In one case, her shirt was lifted and the Taser applied directly to her skin, inflicting burn wounds onto her stomach, the complaint alleges.
Epperly, in his previous account to the Globe, said a deputy used a Taser gun on Norman in the presence of two other deputies and three police officers.
Epperly said the use of the Taser, which delivers an electronic shock, and the other officers' failure to intervene and keep the deputy from using it are what he and the Cassville police chief called into question as improper policy and procedure, and why they sought an outside investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Globe efforts to obtain information about the status of that investigation, particularly if its findings had been forwarded to the Barry County prosecutor, were unsuccessful Thursday.
The Barry County prosecutor was in court and could not be reached for comment.
Phone messages left for spokesmen from the Springfield and Carthage offices for the Missouri State Highway Patrol were not immediately returned.
All events that allegedly occurred at the jail, Lewright said, were recorded via video camera.
He said Norman requested a copy of the footage pursuant to her rights as a victim of the crime, but never received one.
Lewright said he has not received one either.
He also said he could not understand the conduct of the law enforcement officers during the incident, particularly after someone came seeking help.
"It just boggles my mind," Lewright said. "What used to be common-sense right and wrong doesn't appear to be anymore," he said.
Damages sought
Melissa A. Norman is seeking compensatory, exemplary and punitive damages in an amount that will be proved at trial; medical expenses; attorneys' fees and costs; and any other relief deemed just and proper by the court, according to her suit.
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