Lee v. Yazoo County, Mississippi et al

Filing 53

ORDER granting 35 Motion to Dismiss State Law Claims Signed by Honorable David C. Bramlette, III on 10/24/2012 (ECW)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
WESTERN DIVISION
TRACY LEE AS THE ADMINISTRATRIX OF
THE ESTATE OF KEITH LEE AND ON BEHALF
OF ALL WRONGFUL DEATH BENEFICIARIES
OF KEITH LEE, DECEASED
VS.

PLAINTIFFS

CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:11-cv-165(DCB)(JMR)

YAZOO COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI; TOMMY
VAUGHN, INDIVIDUALLY AND IN HIS
OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS SHERIFF OF
YAZOO COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI; HOWARD
BOATNER, INDIVIDUALLY; ANITA TOOMBS,
INDIVIDUALLY; ROBERT PURVIS, INDIVIDUALLY;
SHARKEY BROWNLOW, INDIVIDUALLY;
KENNETH GRIFFIN, INDIVIDUALLY;
BOBBY ADAMS, INDIVIDUALLY; and
JOHN AND JANE DOES 7-10

DEFENDANTS

ORDER
This cause is before the Court on the Second Motion to Dismiss
State Law Claims (docket entry 35) filed by defendants Yazoo
County, Mississippi; Tommy Vaughn individually and in his official
capacity as Sheriff of Yazoo County, Mississippi; and Howard
Boatner, Anita Toombs, and Robert Purvis, individually, pursuant to
Rule 12(b)(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Having

carefully considered the defendants’ motion and memorandum, as well
as the record in this case, and being fully advised in the
premises, the Court finds as follows:
The Amended Compliant in this case seeks damages for denial of
medical attention on behalf of the wrongful death beneficiaries of
Keith Lee, who was an inmate of the Yazoo County Jail, on or about

April 5-8, 2009.

The Amended Compliant alleges, pursuant to 42

U.S.C. § 1983, that Mr. Lee was deprived of his constitutional
rights

to

medical

care

under

the

Fourth,

Fifth,

Eighth

and

Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and that
such deprivation proximately caused his death.
In Count IV of their Amended Complaint, the plaintiffs bring
pendant

state

claims

for

negligent

supervision

and

negligent

training against Yazoo County, Mississippi, Sheriff Tommy Vaughn in
his individual and official capacity as Sheriff of Yazoo County,
and Howard Boatner, Robert Purvis and Anita Toombs in their
individual capacity.

The defendants assert that Yazoo County,

Mississippi and its employees are entitled to immunity pursuant to
the Mississippi Tort Claims Act (“MTCA”).

In addition, Sharkey

Brownlow, Kenneth Griffin and Bobby Adams have been named as
defendants in this case but have never been served with process.
The movant defendants contend that the state law claims should be
dismissed against these unserved defendants as well.
Pursuant

to

the

MTCA,

governmental

entities,

and

their

employees acting within the course and scope of their employment,
shall not be liable for any claims
of any claimant who at the time the claim arises is an
inmate of any detention center, jail, workhouse, penal
farm, penitentiary, or other such institution, regardless
of whether such claimant is or is not an inmate of any
detention
center,
jail,
workhouse,
penal
farm,
penitentiary, or other such institution when the claim is
filed ....

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Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-9(1)(m); Powell v. Clay County Bd. of
Supervisors, 924 So.2d 523, 526 (Miss. 2006).
Amended

Complaint

clearly

establishes

that

The plaintiffs’

Keith

Lee

was

an

incarcerated inmate in the Yazoo County Jail at all times relevant
to this action.

As the decedent’s wrongful death beneficiaries,

the plaintiffs’ claims are entitled only to the remedies afforded
decedent if he had survived.

Since § 11-46-9(1)(m) provides the

decedent with no remedy, it likewise bars a suit by his heirs.

See

Webb v. Desoto County, 843 So.2d 682, 684-85 (Miss. 2003); Carter
v. Miss. Dept. of Corrections, 860 So.2d 1187, 1193 (Miss. 2003).
The defendants are therefore entitled to immunity from all pendant
state law claims. Additionally, since the plaintiffs are asserting
only state law claims for negligence, the defendants are immune
from individual liability pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. §11-46-7(2).
See Jones v. Baptist Memorial Hospital, 735 So.2d 993, 997 (Miss.
1999).
Finally, the plaintiffs’ claims under the laws of the State of
Mississippi are barred by operation of the statute of limitations.
The alleged acts and omissions which give rise to the plaintiffs’
claims occurred on or before April 8, 2009.

On April 27, 2009,

Sheriff Vaughn and Quint Carver, Chancery Clerk of Yazoo County,
received a Notice of Claim letter.

However, the plaintiffs failed

to file their Complaint until November 16, 2011.
Pursuant to the MTCA, claims against governmental entities or

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their employees are subject to the following statute
of limitations:
(3) All actions brought under the provisions of [the
MTCA] shall be commenced within one (1) year next after
the date of the tortious, wrongful or otherwise
actionable conduct on which the liability phase of the
action is based, and not after; provided, however, that
the filing of a notice of claim ... shall serve to toll
the statute of limitations ... for one hundred twenty
(120) days from the date the chief executive office or
other statutorily designated official of a municipality,
county or other political subdivision receives notice of
claim, during which time no action may be maintained by
the claimant unless the claimant has received a notice of
denial of claim. After the tolling period has expired,
the claimant shall then have an additional ninety (90)
days to file any action against the governmental entity
served with proper claim notice.
Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-11(3).

Giving the plaintiffs the benefit

of every possible tolling provision under the statute, the latest
date on which the plaintiffs could file the instant lawsuit and
assert state law claims was one year and 210 days after the
tortious event, which was November 4, 2010.

All pendant state law

claims must therefore be dismissed for an additional reason, the
expiration of the applicable statute of limitations.

Accordingly,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Second Motion to Dismiss State
Law Claims (docket entry 35) filed by defendants Yazoo County,
Mississippi; Tommy Vaughn individually and in his official capacity
as Sheriff of Yazoo County, Mississippi; and Howard Boatner, Anita
Toombs, and Robert Purvis, individually is GRANTED;
FURTHER ORDERED that all pendant state law claims against said
defendants are dismissed with prejudice;
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FURTHER ORDERED that the plaintiffs shall not be allowed to
assert any pendant state law claims against the unserved defendants
Sharkey Brownlow, Kenneth Griffin and Bobby Adams, individually.
SO ORDERED, this the 24th day of October, 2012.

/s/ David Bramlette
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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