Roxanne Adams, Administrator of the Estate of Jamycheal M. Mitchell v. Naphcare, Inc. et al

Filing 288

ORDER re 284 Petitioner's BRIEF by Roxanne Adams, Administrator of the Estate of Jamycheal M. Mitchell (Plaintiff's Brief Concerning the Administrator's Right to Compensation): See Order for details. Signed by District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith on 2/27/2019. Counsel for Plaintiff is DIRECTED to forward a copy of this Order to Ms. Adams.(dcou, )

FEB 2 7 2019

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
Norfolk Division

ROXANNE ADAMS, ADMINISTRATOR OF
THE ESTATE OF JAMYCHEAL M. MITCHELL,

Plaintiff,
V.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:16cv229

NAPHCARE, INC., et al.,
Defendants.

ORDER

On February 21, 2019, the court held a hearing on the approval
of a wrongful-death settlement in this case. At that hearing, the
court

inquired

as

to

whether

Plaintiff,

Roxanne

Adams,

Administrator of the Estate of Jamycheal M. Mitchell, would be
entitled to a fee for her role in this case. Following the hearing.

Plaintiff filed a Brief Concerning the Administrator's Right to
Compensation (^'Brief Concerning Compensation"). ECF No. 284. The
court has

Virginia

reviewed

Code

the

excludes

matter and is of the

the

distribution

of

opinion

a

fee

that the

from

wrongful-death settlement proceeds to the administrator.
Virginia Code § 8.01-54(0 specifies:
The amount recovered in [a wrongful-death] action shall
be paid to the personal representative who shall first
pay the costs and reasonable attorney's fees and then
distribute the amount specifically allocated to the
payment of hospital, medical, and funeral expenses. The
remainder

of

the

amount

recovered

shall

distributed . . . to the beneficiaries.

thereafter

be

the

Id. (emphasis added).

The

expression

of specific distributions

provided

by the

Virginia Code implies the exclusion of other distributions. See In
re Woodiev/ 290 Va. 482, 490 n.9 (2015) (citing Fisher v. Tails,

Inc., 289 Va. 69, 75 (2015) (applying ''the statutory canon of
expressio unius est exclusio alterius ('the express mention of one
thing

[in

a

statute's

language]

excludes

all

others')")).

Accordingly, the Virginia Supreme Court has given effect to the
plain language of Virginia's wrongful-death statutes:

What the legislature said is that a wrongful death award
'shall be paid to the personal representative' for
distribution to the beneficiaries. Code § 8.01-54(0 • We

presume that the legislature says what it means and means
what it says. Given the clarity of Code § 8.01-54(C), we
may neither add to this statutory text nor subtract from
it.

Id. at 491 (following the plain language of Virginia's wrongful
death

statute

to

conclude

that the

court erred

when

it ordered

payment of the minor beneficiaries' awards to the clerk of court);
see also Powell's Adm'x

v. Powell, 4 S.E. 744, 745 (Va. 1888)

("[WJhere a compromise is effected, as was done in the present
case, the money paid is to be distributed according to the statute
of distributions.").

Although

the

court

does

not find

a

monetary

award

to

be

permitted under Virginia law, the court acknowledges Ms. Adams's
significant role in this complex case and in bringing about public
awareness

of

the

tragic

and

unnecessary

death

of

her

nephew.

Jamycheal

Mitchell.

See

generally

ECF

No.

284

at

4

n.4.

Specifically, the court commends Ms. Adams for pursuing justice

for

Jamycheal Mitchell, bringing this

matter

to

a

beneficial

settlement, and establishing Jamycheal Mitchell's legacy through
her efforts on his behalf, both in this court and in the state

legislature. See Act of March 24, 2017 (^Vamycheal Mitchell's
Law"), ch. 759, 2017 Va. Acts 1383 (codified as amended at Va.

Code Ann. §§ 53.1-2, 53.1-5, 53.1-127 (2013 & Supp. 2018), and
codified at Va. Code Ann. § 53.1-69.1 (Supp. 2018)) (new Virginia

Code § 53.1-69.1 outlines procedures for the "'[rjeview of death of
inmates in local correctional facilities").

The Clerk is DIRECTED to send a copy of this Order to counsel

for all parties. Counsel for Plaintiff is DIRECTED to forward a
copy of this Order to Ms. Adams.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

REBECCA BEACH SMITH

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

February

ai. 2019