Several Huntsville police officers and drug squad agents were dismissed Thursday from a federal lawsuit filed by the mother of a Huntsville teen who died after being arrested in June 2013.
During the drug sting arrest, the 17-year-old was pepper sprayed, received broken ribs, had a flashlight shoved in his mouth and suffered cardiac arrest while officers sat on him near his family's home, the lawsuit alleges. He died five days after being transported to Huntsville Hospital.
The lawsuit was filed by the teen's mother, Nancy Smith, in U.S. District Court in Huntsville last June. The lawsuit named several law enforcement officers, including the arresting officers, police supervisors, Chief of Police Lewis Morris, agents with the Madison-Morgan County Strategic Counterdrug team, STAC, and the City of Huntsville.
The lawsuit named several defendants including Morris, Lt. Lee Tribble, STAC Sgt. DeWayne McCarver, Deputy Chief Kirk Giles, Sgt. Glen Eaves, agent Tesla Hughes, agent Joseph Blake Dean, investigator Charlie Gray and agent Terry Lucas.
U.S. District Court Judge Abdul Kallon granted motions to dismiss by nearly all of the defendants Thursday, though that did not include the arresting officers, Dean and Hughes. The judge found the lawsuit did not make claims that suggest most of the officers and the chief are "liable for the misconduct alleged."
"These factual allegations fail as a matter of law because Smith did not allege any facts indicating that the Officer Defendants actually failed to adequately train or supervise Officers (Joseph) Dean and (Tesla) Hughes, were either personally involved in the alleged unconstitutional conduct or that a causal connection exists between the actions of the officer Defendants and the alleged constitutional conduct sufficient to support a failure to supervise claim," the judge found.
Kallon said he assumes Smith will sue the arresting officers in their individual capacity.
Kallon also dismissed a claim for punitive damages against the City of Huntsville, pointing out that a municipality is immune from punitive damages.
The City of Huntsville denied claims that the officers were not properly trained.
The incident began when a teen drug informant went to Smith's house, with the intent of buying drugs from her son, with officers waiting nearby to make an arrest.
The lawsuit claims at some point in the transaction a female plain clothes officers came running toward Smith's son, identified as "N.S." and did not identify herself as an officer, so he began walking in the other direction. An officer grabbed him and threw him to the ground, cuffed him and pepper-sprayed him, the suit claims.
The 17-year-old choked, began vomiting and lost consciousness while handcuffed but officers refused to render aid, the lawsuit claims. There were apparently claims he'd swallowed the suspected drugs and officers used a pen and flashlight attempting to retrieve them ,according to the lawsuit.
Police told paramedics they thought the teen had overdosed, but the lawsuit said no signs of an overdose have been found. The 6-foot, 130-pound teen had contusions all over his body, the lawsuit alleges
He died on June 18, 2013, five days after being transported to Huntsville Hospital.