Delaware judge sides with prison officers in excessive force lawsuit

A New Castle County Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of a group of Delaware state prison guards in a trial in which they were accused of using unnecessary force.

The defendants, a group of current and former Sussex Correctional Facility officers, have been charged with assault in a long-running lawsuit alleging that they needlessly sprayed and beat plaintiff Jonathan Rodriguez in January 2018.

Rodriguez claims they conspired to use that force because at the time he was accused of participating in a 2017 uprising at Building C of the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, in which inmates used force to take officers and a counselor hostage as part of a protest over conditions at the Delaware prison. During the ensuing 18-hour standoff, an officer was killed.

Rodriguez was one of 16 men indicted on charges including rioting and murder in the months after the riot. He was at Sussex Correctional Institution awaiting trial when the incident that led to the lawsuit occurred in 2018. Charges against him and several others accused in the Building C insurrection were dropped in 2019.

He brought the claim following an incident at Sussex Prison, alleging that officers used excessive force and assaulted him because he was on trial for the murder of a prison guard.

The incident occurred after he refused to lock himself in his cell. His job was to clean the floor, and after that he was given time to take a shower. He claimed he tried to talk to the officers about it.

Video of the incident shows officers rushing Rodriguez with pepper spray, he throws punches, and then officers tackle him on the ground. Once he’s on the ground, the scuffle is partially hidden because the incident is only recorded from one camera angle, even though there are other cameras on the floor.

In June, Superior Court Judge Francis Jones watched the video and heard testimony from the officers involved, Rodriguez and an expert witness called by the defense to discuss the officers’ use-of-force training. The case was heard by a judge instead of a jury at Rodriguez’s request.

Jones issued a ruling last week finding that the incident did not constitute a civil assault or conspiracy under Delaware law.

Editor’s Note: Read the judge’s ruling at the bottom of this story. Video of the use of force is posted at the top of this story.

Judge’s justification

To win, Rodriguez had to convince the judge that the officers were not justified in using force and that their force was unreasonable. Government employees also have broad immunity from civil lawsuits, so he must also show that their conduct was bad faith, willful negligence or outside the scope of their official duties.

In his ruling, Jones found persuasive testimony from the defendant’s expert, who opined that Rodriguez could be considered resisting — and that he would be procedurally considered eligible to use pepper spray — under the department’s use-of-force model.

Then, as he began to strike the first officers, he became the assailant, following a pattern of use of force, justifying the blows the officers struck him while he was on the ground, Jones wrote.

The crux of Rodriguez’s legal argument was that the officers’ use of force was unjustified and inconsistent with policy because there were alternative ways to resolve the situation without resorting to the use of force.

According to the ruling, Jones found those arguments unconvincing.

Rodriguez argued that the officers could have allowed him to shower, as was his routine. Jones opined that this could have put them in a position in the future where they would have to comply with similar requests, thus creating chaos in the prison.

Rodriguez argued that the officers could have called a senior officer who Rodriguez believed would have been familiar with his routine and that contact with such an officer was the reason he did not lock himself in the cell. Jones said the senior officer was notified before the officers mobilized to use force.

Previous story: Man once accused of Delaware prison riot claims officers beat him unnecessarily, case goes to trial

Rodriguez also argued that the officers could have simply asked him to put his hands through the door so they could handcuff him, which is routine. Jones opined that Rodriguez had already ignored warnings to lock him in the cell, so it was unlikely that such an order to handcuff him would have been heeded.

The ruling ends the trial in favor of the defendant officers.

In a written statement through a spokeswoman, Department of Corrections Commissioner Terra Taylor said the ruling underscored the officers’ “effective implementation of policy” and that the outcome of the case “further validates” that officers work in “dangerous” conditions and demonstrate “professionalism and courage” in the face of threats.

Herb Mondros, Rodriguez’s attorney, said in a text message that he and his client were “disappointed” with the outcome but were glad he was able to tell his story.

“We think the video speaks for itself,” Mondros said.

Rodriguez’s claims against the officers add to a string of other excessive-force claims currently pending in federal courts: officers having too much leeway to escalate non-threatening situations with pepper spray and violence.

The Delaware Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is currently pursuing excessive force cases on behalf of approximately forty current or former SCI detainees.

Lawsuits are also ongoing from former defendants in the Building C case, as well as from men who were never charged with participating in the riots but say they were beaten and subjected to psychological torture in the days and weeks after the incident.

The lawsuit was dismissed by a Delaware District Court judge two years ago but was reinstated by a panel of appellate court judges and is still pending.

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or [email protected].