Peach County is accused of not treating a sick inmate who later died, lawsuit says
A Peach County mother filed a lawsuit against the county, its board of commissioners and Sheriff Terry Deese over the death of her son while in custody, according to a lawsuit removed to federal court Friday.
Barbara Campbell initially filed the lawsuit through attorney Bonnie Michelle Smith on July 29 of last year, arguing that jail personnel failed to treat her son, Maurice Campbell, for his worsening condition before he died. In an amended complaint, she mentioned that Maurice Campbell’s treatment violated the federal Cruel and Unusual Punishments clause of the Eighth Amendment, which meant the lawsuit would be removed from Peach County Superior Court to federal court in Macon.
Lawsuit: Campbell’s condition was treatable
Maurice Campbell was arrested in May 2022 on rape and child molestation charges and later died while in custody on July 31, 2022. Deese stated that Campbell had requested a medical examination the month before his death. However, there was nothing notable about the results, according to previous reports from The Telegraph.
The lawsuit explains that Campbell was in medical distress and that jail officials were aware of his health issues and the “progressive decline in his health” was reported by them.
“Jail officials were aware of Maurice Campbell’s increasingly worsening health symptoms, and yet declined to send Maurice Campbell to the hospital for emergency medical aid,” the lawsuit said.
Jail officials allegedly were negligent for failing to send Campbell to the hospital’s emergency room, which caused the inmate to die of acute renal failure, the lawsuit said. Acute renal failure, also known as an acute kidney injury, occurs when the kidneys can’t filter waste in the blood, causing waste to build up, according to the National Kidney Foundation. Symptoms of acute renal failure include urinating less, swelling in your legs, fatigue, shortness of breath, confusion, high blood pressure, decreased appetite, nausea, pain between your ribs and hips, chest pain and seizures.
The lawsuit argued that Peach County, its board of commissioners and Deese were negligent as they owed a duty of care to inmates like Campbell but breached it by failing to render aid to him. It also argues that Campbell’s death is also a result of the “defendant’s current policy and procedure for medical aid for inmates.”
“Maurice Campbell’s condition was treatable with timely medical care,” the lawsuit said. “As a result of Defendant’s actions, Maurice Campbell suffered and died.”
The lawsuit also argued that Campbell’s Eighth Amendment rights were violated when jail officials failed to treat him and were “deliberately indifferent to his medical condition.”
The legal replies to the lawsuit filed by Barbara Campbell were directed only to the lawsuit filed in Peach County Superior Court. In the replies, the county, its commissioners and Deese denied all of the allegations against them and asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
Their lawyer, Wesley Jackson, asserts that the Peach County Board of Commissioners was incorrectly named in this lawsuit on behalf of Peach County. The board of commissioners is not a suable entity, according to Jackson, and, even if they had properly named the county and the sheriff in the lawsuit, he argues it should be dismissed as they both enjoy sovereign immunity.
The first lawsuit was filed against the Peach County Board of Commissioners. But an amended complaint filed in August last year then introduced Peach County and the sheriff.
Jackson also further argued that he wasn’t properly notified of a lawsuit being filed beforehand, which is required in Georgia, and therefore it should be dismissed.
Although the lawsuit lists Jackson as the county and its officials’ attorney, Holden Burford and James Banter filed the request of removal to federal court.
What’s next?
Smith hasn’t responded to the request for removal to federal court since the article’s publication, but she could challenge the decision, which will have the judge assigned to the case decide whether it stays in federal court. But if she doesn’t, the case will proceed in federal court.
This story was originally published January 6, 2025 at 2:08 PM.
