Chavis Carter’s mom files wrongful death lawsuit
theGRIO REPORT - Theresa Rudd wants answers. More specifically, she wants to know the truth as to how her son, 21-year-old Chavis Carter, died, and she’s willing to go to court to find out...
The JPD released a video of a re-creation of the incident. It showed several officers – of differing heights and weights – in the back of a police car putting a gun to their head while handcuffed. But Irwin is skeptical, saying it was “one of the best stunts” he’d ever seen.
Footage from the officer’s dash cam video would have dispelled any questions regarding Carter’s death. But Jonesboro police admit the camera failed to function for 10 minutes during the incident and when it became operative again – Chavis Carter was dead.
But the JPD is on record as saying officers Baggett and Marsh do not deny that the dash cam was off. But they disagree that it was “intentional.”
Sgt. Lyle Waterworth, of the JPD, explained the camera mishap in a statement saying the two officers were driving older patrol cars “that have had functional issues with their video/computer systems for some time.”
The JPD said comments from bystanders that night, appear to indicate that Marsh and Baggett, “were not near the car until Chavis was discovered,” and that evidence in the vehicle supported a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“This virtually eliminates any possibility that the fatal wound was caused by any weapon other than the one recovered in the rear of the vehicle and that its discharge was caused by Carter,” Waterworth said in a statement.
Based on this, attorneys for the police have asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit Rudd filed against them.
“There’s a lack of legal liability based on the facts of this case,” C. Burt Newell told TheGrio. “This case was exhaustively investigated before I was even aware of it, and my hoped outcome is the case against my clients will be dismissed.”
Newell said he has not filed a formal Motion To Dismiss in the case. But according to a clerk in the United States District Court, Eastern Arkansas, Jonesboro Division, Judge Kristin Baker has set the proposed trial date for December 2014. The monetary amount of damages Rudd is seeking is not noted in the Complaint.
The complaints against Jonesboro and the police officers are lengthy and detailed. In addition to the issues and allegations already cited, Holmes lists numerous instances where it is alleged that police were negligent. Specifically:
- Carter was removed from the vehicle and searched without cause.
Around 10 p.m., Baggett pulled over a white pick up truck that was traveling north on Haltom Avenue. Baggett later said in his incident report that he was called to the area because of a “suspicious white truck that was seen driving up and down the area with it’s≠ lights off.” The truck was driven by a then 17-year-old minor, while another man, 21-year-old Timothy Andrew Teal, was seated next to him. Both are white. Only Carter – who is black – was pulled from the passenger seat with allegedly no discussion as to why he was being removed from the truck. Carter is searched by Marsh and placed in the back of his police car.
- Carter was not informed why he was being detained.
After reportedly receiving information from dispatch as to Carter’s identity (Carter initially gave officers a fake name, Laryan Bowman), Marsh removes Carter from the police cruiser and searches him again stating only “Mississippi wants you.” Carter reportedly has an outstanding warrant from Desoto County for an earlier drug possession.
- Search of Carter was improper, he was not read his “Miranda” rights.
Holmes said dash cam video shows that neither officer Mirandized Carter, or advised him of his legal rights before he was interrogated, questioned or searched. Carter did not agree to the searches, and they were both negligent in that the officer failed to find a cell phone or a gun on Carter.
- Officers failed to protect Carter.
Carter died while in police custody. Jonesboro Police admits there is “no doubt that Officer Marsh missed the gun during the initial pat down of Carter,” Waterworth said in a statement. Jonesboro Police officer Ron Marsh was reprimanded for failing to conduct a through search
Holmes said it appears Baggett and Marsh gave preferential treatment to the two white passengers in the truck even though she believes the officers had legal cause to take them into custody.
“There is some conversation about the white substance found,” Holmes said referring to the dash cam video. “The officers don’t think that it was an actual narcotic, although there was a scale also found in the vehicle. So they had grounds. Although the basis for the search itself was questionable, once they found the white substance and the scales, they arguably had a reason to detain the two boys. But they didn’t. They let them go.”
At 10:41 p.m., a dash cam video shows Teal and the minor leaving the scene in the white truck. Prior to their release, one of the officers says: “[Carter’s] going to jail because he’s got something out of Mississippi that has nothing to do with y’all.”
“I didn’t buy this story from the beginning,” Rudd told WREG TV. “I don’t give two rats…about the money. I want to know what happened to my son.”
Holmes, a veteran attorney from Mound Bayou, Miss., practicing in Memphis, said her objective in this case is to find out what happened to Carter and help his mother cope with her loss.
“She is incredibly angry,” Holmes said. “She doesn’t know how to process this. And every time I see her, I have to put my arms around her because I just hate that she has to go through this. But she’s a fighter. She really is. And even if we’re successful in this lawsuit there’s a very good possibility that we might not be able to tell her what happened to her son and she’ll still have to deal with that.”
