Man beaten in jail sues Shelby County
A man who was jailed in the Shelby County Detention Center for stealing two boxes of Fruit Roll-Ups alleges in a lawsuit that a deputy jailer ordered other inmates to “savagely” beat him because he had dated the deputy’s wife.
Joshua Reece says in the suit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Frankfort, that he suffered multiple fractures to his head and face that the jail failed to treat, and when he was finally released 30 days later, he had to undergo "major corrective surgery in which his head was cut open and his face peeled down and returned to its proper place.”
Deputy Jailer William Anthony Carey was fired and pleaded guilty to complicity to assault and official misconduct.
Garry Adams, one of Reece's lawyers, said “it is amazing that in 2015 in modern America that such a savage beating could take place in a jail or other institution, where an individual is helpless, especially when you find out that the beating was directed by one of the people who is supposed to keep that individual safe.”
It says that when Reece, then 31, was admitted to the jail last Nov. 18 after being charged with shoplifting at a Dollar Store in Simpsonville, Carey recognized him, then conspired with another deputy to place him in “Cell 317,” a “max cell” reserved for inmates charged with violent behavior.
The complaint says Carey and others approached those inmates and “directed that they beat him.” It alleges he was awakened by 10 to 12 inmates who on Carey’s instruction beat him for several hours, until he lost consciousness, and that when he came to, he was again being beaten in the shower.
Shelby Sheriff’s Deputy Detective Eric Hettinger said he found no evidence that Carey had Reece placed in the max cell. However, citing the pending cases, Hettinger declined to say if he found that Carey ordered the beating or if he was motivated by Reece’s past history with his wife.
The suit alleges Reece wasn’t taken for medical treatment until the next day, and that nurses for the jail’s medial provider, Southern Health Partners of Chattanooga, Tenn., give him ibuprofen and generally ignored his injuries and pleas for treatment.
In an interview, Jailer Bobby Waits confirmed that Carey was terminated but wouldn’t comment on the case, citing the litigation.
He said Reece was given X-rays, “but I can’t get into all that.”
Carey, who lives in Bloomfield, Ky., doesn’t have a listed phone number and his lawyer, Nathan Riggs, did not respond to a request for comment.
Court records show Carey was charged with official misconduct and fourth degree assault – minor injuries, and he pleaded guilty to the first charge and an amended charge of complicity to misdemeanor assault. He was given a 90-day jail term that was conditionally discharged.
Hettinger said seven inmates were charged and all but two cases are resolved.
He said that Carey was allowed to “quietly plead guilty” without Reece being consulted about the disposition, as is customarily done with crime victims.
Shelby County Attorney Hart Megibben said he didn’t know about the case, which would have been handled by an assistant, and could not dispute Adams’ assertion.
Adams said the FBI, which investigates some civil rights violations, may be reviewing the case; FBI spokesman David Habich said he couldn’t confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of an investigation.
Reece, who lives in Taylorsville, pleaded guilty to shoplifting and was sentenced to 30 days in jail but given credit for 22 days he had already served.
Janet Stephens, a spokeswoman for Southern Health Partners, was out of her office and did not respond to a message seeking comment.
The suit, which names as defendants Shelby County and Southern Health Partners, as well as Carey, Waits and several nurses and other employees, seeks damages for violations of Reece’s constitutional rights and other violations.
It says the beating left Reece with permanent scarring, disfigurement, headaches, blurred vision, memory loss, post-concussion syndrome and brain trauma.
“It is the purpose of this action to recover the damages Mr. Reece has sustained as a result of defendants' conduct,” the suit says, “and punitive damages to punish Defendants' conduct and forever deter its repetition.”
Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189 or awolfson@courier-journal.com