A lawsuit that alleges a family was unlawfully detained by area law enforcement during a search of a home in January 2015 has been modified in response to a motion for dismissal the county attorney filed on behalf of the Garland County Sheriff's Department last month.
The amended complaint filed Feb. 1 by Hal W. and Michelle Stanley named Garland County, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Arkansas State Police Director Bill Bryant as defendants in lieu of the sheriff's department, which was one of seven defendants named in the original complaint the Stanleys filed Jan. 12.
The motion for dismissal County Attorney Ralph Ohm filed Jan. 25 argued the sheriff's department's lack of a legal existence separate from the county precludes it from being the subject of a lawsuit. In support of the motion, Ohm attached a March 2015 order from a federal judge dismissing the Woodruff County Sheriff's Department from a lawsuit.
"A county sheriff's department is not an entity capable of being sued as it is only a department or subdivision of the county," U.S. District Judge Brian S. Miller of the Eastern District of Arkansas wrote in the dismissal order.
Ohm also cited a similar case where the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Fifth Judicial Drug Task Force formed by Johnson, Franklin and Pope counties and the cities of Russellville and Clarksville wasn't a legal entity capable of being sued.
The amended complaint continues to name as defendants Sheriff Mike McCormick, Chief Deputy of Enforcement Jason Lawrence, Investigator Terry Threadgill and Sgt. Mike Wright of the sheriff's department, state police Cpl. Russell Rhodes and Katherine Finnegan of the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division. Defendant Ron Stayton, the CACD commander, was not named in the original complaint.
The Stanleys' latest pleading said Garland County was mistakenly named as the Garland County Sheriff's Department in the original filing, and that the governor and state police director were mistakenly omitted.
It reiterates the false imprisonment claim stated in the original filing, which said Hal and Michelle Stanley, who was pregnant at the time, were forced to sit on the front porch of their Treasure Isle residence for the duration of the five-and-a-half-hour search for a chemical substance referred to as Master Mineral Solution. The complaint said roughly 30 "government agents," including the sheriff's department's tactical response team, conducted the search.
The warrant sworn out by Wright before the Jan. 12, 2015, search also sought "other chemical substances which could be used to endanger the welfare of children." A news release the sheriff's department issued after the incident cited an investigation that determined the children were "at risk of various harm due to different factors." The release said abuse allegations reported to the Arkansas Department of Human Service's Child Abuse Hotline three days before the search were the basis for the investigation.
The complaint said the Stanley children were confined to the living room area before being taken to an ambulance and examined by a doctor without their parents' consent. Authorities subsequently took custody of the family's seven children, six of whom are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Hal Stanley testified before the Legislature's Joint Performance Review Committee last October to contest the 21 true findings of neglect the state leveled against him. His attorney, Joe Churchwell, told the committee he would appeal the findings to the state's Office of Hearings and Appeals later that month.
The outcome of the appeal is unknown, as Churchwell didn't return a call seeking comment Wednesday or previous attempts since October to reach him at his law office. Hal Stanley said during his legislative testimony that the children were ultimately returned to the family.
Ohm said last month that he expects the Stanleys' claim to be dismissed before it reaches a jury.
"I don't believe the county officers did anything wrong with regards to the execution of the search warrant," Ohm said. "They were well within the rules prescribed by the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure. I don't believe they did any damage to the Stanleys or their home.
"They made them stand outside while the house was searched. I feel like it will be dismissed in a motion for summary judgment."
Local on 02/11/2016