Kennedy v. Jefferson County, Mississippi et al

Filing 201

ORDER finding as moot 110 Motion to Enforce Subpoena; finding as moot 193 Motion for Hearing; denying 194 Motion to Set Aside; and awarding sanctions for civil contempt. Signed by Honorable David C. Bramlette, III on December 8, 2014. (AA)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
WESTERN DIVISION
JERRY L. KENNEDY
VS.

PLAINTIFF
CIVIL ACTION NO: 5:13-cv-226-DCB-MTP

JEFFERSON COUNTY, et al.

DEFENDANTS
ORDER

This matter is before the Court on Defendants’, Board of
Trustees of Jefferson County Hospital, Jefferson County Hospital,
and Regina Reed, Motion to Enforce Subpoena [docket entry no. 110]
and the Court’s own Order of Contempt [docket entry no. 181]. Also
pending are a Motion for Hearing [docket entry no. 193] and a
Motion to Set Aside the Contempt Order [docket entry no. 194] filed
by Carnell Kitchens. Having reviewed the motions and circumstances
of this case, as well as applicable statutory and case law, the
Court finds as follows:
I. Factual and Procedural Background
The parties involved are by now well familiar with the facts
and circumstances of these contempt proceedings, but they bear
repeating once more here at their close. Carnell Kitchens and his
company, CK Consulting Solutions (“CKCS”), were served a subpoena
by Defendants Jefferson County Hospital, the Board of Trustees of
Jefferson County Hospital, and Regina Reed (collectively, “the

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Hospital”) for certain documents related to consulting services
provided to the Hospital. Neither Kitchens nor CKCS responded to
the subpoena,
subpoena

prompting

before

the

Magistrate

Hospital
Judge

to

Michael

move
T.

to

enforce

Parker.

the

Because

Kitchens did not respond to the motion, Judge Parker sua sponte
entered an Order to Show Cause [docket entry no. 130] as to why
Kitchens should not be held in contempt. By way of response,
Kitchens wrote a letter to Judge Parker, but the letter contained
nothing that Judge Parker found relevant to his Order. Thereafter,
Judge Parker entered an Order to Appear [docket entry no. 139].
Kitchens failed to appear. Judge Parker then certified the facts of
Kitchens’s contumacious behavior to this Court under 28 U.S.C.
Section 636(e)(6)(B)(iii) in a Report and Recommendation [docket
entry no. 152]. Kitchens did not object, and the Court adopted
Judge Parker’s Report and Recommendation in whole [docket entry no.
164]. The Court set its own show cause hearing in the same Order,
and Kitchens once again failed to appear.
At the end of the hearing, the Court found Kitchens and CKCS
in contempt of court and awarded the attorneys their costs related
to the proceedings as sanctions. The Court further ordered that
Kitchens would be arrested pursuant to a bench warrant to appear at
a rescheduled hearing.
II. Finding of Contempt
At the rescheduled hearing, Kitchens testified that he had
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already turned

over

requested

apologized

and

all

the

documents that

for

his

behavior.

the

Hospital

Kitchens

had

denied

understanding the gravity of the court orders he chose to ignore.
The

Hospital,

through

counsel,

agreed

that

it

had

received

everything it had requested in its subpoena but cautioned that it
planned to depose Kitchens and CKCS and did not wish to begin this
cycle of behavior again. At the end of the rescheduled hearing, the
Court found

that

Kitchens and

CKCS

had

purged

themselves of

contempt by complying with the subpoena, but the Court’s original
sanction of costs to the parties still stands.
The Court will deny the motion for hearing as moot and deny
the motion to set aside the contempt order as moot. The only relief
requested in the motions was a rehearing, which the Court had
already

scheduled,

and

that

the

arrest

warrant

be

recalled.

Kitchens was released from the custody of the U.S. Marshal at the
conclusion of the hearing.
III. Bill of Costs
The

Court

also

ordered

at

the

initial

hearing

and

the

rescheduled hearing that the attorneys for the plaintiff and the
defendants submit bills of cost pursuant to the Court’s sanctions.
The attorneys for the Hospital1 submitted a bill of costs [docket
entry

no.

188]

and

a

supplemental

1

bill

of

costs

after

The attorneys for the remaining defendants did not
participate in any of the contempt proceedings and have not
requested any costs.
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the

rescheduled hearing [docket entry no. 195]. The attorneys for the
plaintiff submitted a bill of costs [docket entry no. 186] after
the initial hearing. The Court further ordered the plaintiff to
submit case law in support of awarding the plaintiff’s costs
because the Court was unsure of whether such costs should be
awarded. The plaintiff did so [docket entry no. 196] and chose not
to

supplement

his

costs

with

any

expenses

incurred

at

the

rescheduled hearing or for the research related to the bill of
costs.
Having

reviewed

the

bills

of

costs

and

the

memorandum

submitted by the plaintiff, the Court finds that the parties should
receive the following amounts:
Plaintiff: $1,000.00
Defendant: $3,591.90
Kitchens will be required to make payments in these amounts to the
trust accounts for the attorney’s firms, unless the attorneys
indicate some other appropriate form of payment. Also, at the
rescheduled hearing, Kitchens requested that he be given at least
180 days to pay the sanctions. The plaintiff and defendants raised
no objection to this; therefore, the Court finds that this time
frame is appropriate. The parties should contact the Court within
thirty days of the payment deadline if Kitchens has failed to
complete payment.
IV. Order
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IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Carnell Kitchens and CK Consulting
Solutions have purged themselves of contempt of court.
FURTHER ORDERED that defendants’ Motion to Enforce Subpoena is
DENIED as MOOT.
FURTHER ORDERED that Kitchens’s Motion for Hearing is DENIED
as MOOT.
FURTHER ORDERED that Kitchens’s Motion to Set Aside Contempt
Order is DENIED.
FURTHER ORDERED that the Court awards costs related to the
contempt proceedings to the parties. The plaintiff shall receive
$1,000.00. The Hospital shall receive $3,591.90. Payment shall be
made to the attorneys’ trust accounts within 180 days of the date
of entry of this order.
FURTHER ORDERED that the Court retains jurisdiction over
Carnell Kitchens and CK Consulting Solutions to ensure compliance
with this order.

SO ORDERED this the 8th day of December 2014.
/s/ David Bramlette
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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