Crawford County couple files federal lawsuit in dog decapitation case

A Crawford County couple who alleges sheriff’s deputies shot their dog and forced one of them to decapitate it is seeking at least a half-million dollars in damages.

Joe Nate Goodwin and his girlfriend, Tosha Dacon, claim civil rights violations, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence in hiring and training an employee among other points detailed in a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle Georgia District of Georgia.

The couple’s lawsuit comes nearly two months after the incident, which was partially captured on video in short clips that Goodwin posted online. The videos, some too graphic to broadcast, garnered thousands of views.

Sheriff Lewis Walker, investigator James Hollis and deputy Andrew Neesmith are named as plaintiffs individually and in their capacities as sheriff’s office employees.

Neesmith resigned in mid January and Hollis remains on paid administrative leave, the sheriff told The Telegraph on Thursday.

Neesmith had come by Goodwin’s house Dec. 1 to investigate after a neighbor was bitten by a dog. Neesmith shot the 2-year-old put-bull mix, Big Boy, only after it lunged toward him in a threatening manner and refused to stop, according to his write up of the incident.

Hollis raised concerns about whether Big Boy had a rabies vaccination, and Goodwin could not produce records of the shots.

The lawsuit contends that Hollis “illegally threatened Goodwin with criminal charges and arrest if he didn’t decapitate the dog’s remains.”

The deputies then ordered Goodwin to take his dog’s head to the Crawford County Health Department, but Goodwin was “too emotionally and mentally distraught to comply,” so Dacon took it, the lawsuit says.

Goodwin lost his job as a result of the deputies actions, the lawsuit says, and he and Dacon have been caused “great physical and mental pain and suffering which required counseling.”

The lawsuit states Neesmith’s actions constitute animal cruelty. It also says Hollis’ physical actions against Goodwin constitutes battery and assault. Both deputies are accused of other crimes including false arrest and false imprisonment.

The couple, represented by Reza Sedghi and Thomas F. Jarriel, is seeking a jury trial and money to compensate for pain and suffering, attorney’s fees and other damages.

The sheriff said the internal investigation into the incident ended in early January, but he is awaiting guidance from the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia before making any decisions about Hollis' employment.

“We just want to get some advice first before we move forward,” the sheriff said, adding that ACCG would appoint an attorney to handle the case for the county. "We're trying to make sure we're being fair both ways."

The sheriff's office was, for a while after Dec. 1, inundated with angry calls and complaints from people all over the country.

"They were flooding the lines with calls and cursing my dispatchers out, cursing my secretaries out," Sheriff Lewis Walker said. "It was tough, but we got through it."

Walker said he doesn't want the sheriff's office to be judged by the three minutes of video footage Goodwin posted because "there's more to it than that, quite naturally."

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Crawford County couple files federal lawsuit in dog decapitation case."