Memphis Police Taped Beating Transsexual Detainee - $1.3 Million Lawsuit Filed, by Mary Neal

Duanna Johnson has filed a $1.3 million lawsuit for her beating while in custody of Memphis/Shelby County police officers, which was caught on tape.  The WREG-Memphis news story and a copy of the raw video were released <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />June 18, 2008.  See http://www.wreg.com/global/story.asp?s=8518971.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I wept watching Duanna Johnson, a transsexual, being beaten, held to her chair in the jail’s holding area by one policeman, while another beat her to the floor, the force of his blows compounded by holding a pair of cuff links in his wielding fist.  I wondered if this was also done to my brother, Larry Neal, who was secretly incarcerated until death in that same facility in 2003. Transsexuals and homosexuals are regarded by many  people as being mentally ill, and Memphis police will not tolerate mental illness in their prisoners.  Duanne Johnson has a right to freedom of sexual expression, but I suspect that to James Swain, Bridges McRae, and all the Memphis police officers who voiced no objection to their abusive behavior, this inmate was just another nutcase who needed to be beaten to her senses.  At least four federal lawsuits were filed against Shelby County Jail and the police department over the past two years for the abuse and murders of mentally ill subjects in custody of Memphis police.  Yet, the U. S. Justice Department apparently does nothing to curb violence against Americans with disabilities in custody of Memphis police.  Note that the officer who held Ms. Johnson still for her beating was not even discharged, but merely placed on desk duty.

I hope that Ms. Johnson has an attorney who will really work in her interest regarding her lawsuit against the jail for her abuse, rather than legal agents who will only PRETEND to represent her, like my family.  We hired The (Johnny) Cochran Firm after Shelby County Jail finally admitted that it had my brother, Larry, a lifelong mental patient and heart patient, secretly arrested there for nearly three weeks while his social worker and family searched for him.  Police ignored Larry’s missing person report and falsely and repeatedly denied having him incarcerated while we searched for him, hoping to get Larry his vital heart and psychiatric medications in time.  However, Julian Bolton, the managing partner of the Memphis office of The Cochran Firm at that time, was himself a Shelby County Commissioner, and the Shelby County Commission owns and operates the jail.  For 10.5 months, the law firm pretended to act as my family’s wrongful death attorneys, but was in fact merely holding our case inactive on its shelves while the statute of limitations for personal injury ran.  Therefore Shelby County Jail was protected from our lawsuit and from censure by the U.S. Justice Department, which was in overview of the jail due to previous abuses of prisoners.  See http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com.

Ms. Johnson may find that it is very difficult to exact justice from the jail or police officers involved in her beating, although her abuse was filmed.  The rights of prisoners in the custody of Memphis police are apparently not protected.  This is evidenced by the fact that to date, almost five years after Larry’s wrongful death in that facility, his family remains the only American family in the 21st Century to have a member secretly arrested and returned as a corpse with no explanation, excuse, apology, arrest records and denied any investigation by the State of Tennessee or the USDOJ, despite its overview duties.  See http://www.nowpublic.com/health/letter-memphis-cit-mary-neal.

I hope Ms. Johnson has a righteous attorney, because my family’s pursuit of justice for Larry was met with attorney fraud and trickery and an elaborate cover-up.  The media will not cover the story of Larry’s death and our justice quest.  Furthermore, we now represent ourselves in our federal lawsuit against The Cochran Firm, because attorneys the family attempted to hire informed us that it would be politically incorrect to represent us and that winning may be too difficult because of the powerful forces against justice in this matter.  We will shortly subpoena Larry’s arrest records from Shelby County Jail, but thanks to The Cochran Firm, these records have been wrongly withheld from Larry’s family for almost five years, and we have little hope in their accuracy.  Even the man who was then Shelby County Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. O. C. Smith, was later indicted on federal charges for trickery in an alleged fake kidnapping case regarding allegations (self-accusations) that the doctor lied during a capital murder trial in order to protect Memphis police. 

See The MemphisFlyer, 5/28/08 -- Will There Be a New Trial for Dr. Smith?

http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?oid=35378

Because transsexual persons probably meet the Memphis police standard for deviant behavior, or mental illness, Ms. Johnson will need better luck in her lawsuit against Shelby County Jail and Memphis police than the three mentally ill victims and their families who filed suit against those defendants in 2005/2006 for abuse and wrongful death.  Their attorney reportedly had a heart attack right after filing their federal lawsuits, and as far as I know, their cases remain stalled to this day:  See http://braxtonandfriends.org/index.html: 

Jannie J. Williams, surviving mother of Kelvin A. Williams, Deceased v. City of Memphis, et al.  Filed 12/5/2006.

This case involves the death of a mentally ill adult while in custody. The lawsuit claims, in essence, that Kelvin Williams was assaulted by police officer(s) after being taken into custody, and while in the back of an ambulance. Williams subsequently died of his injuries.

Willie Hester, Jr., by his next friend and mother Joyce D. Hester, and Joyce D. Hester v. City of Memphis, et al.  Filed 7/3/2006.

This case involves the shooting of a mentally ill adult by Memphis police. Hester was shot 21 times, some of the bullets entering his body from the bottom of his feet, and some from his buttocks. The lawsuit also alleges that Hester was not properly treated and medicated while at the Shelby County jail; Hester was transferred to the jail after three months in ICU.

Braxton Korvacea Moore, by his next friend and mother, Janie Moore, and Janie Moore v. County of Shelby, et al.  Filed 12/5/2006.

This case involves the treatment, or lack thereof, of Braxton Moore, a 13-year-old retarded and mentally ill child, imprisoned as an adult. The lawsuit claims Braxton was not properly treated, cared for, and supervised while he was incarcerated. The lawsuit also claims that Braxton did not receive his proper medications while he was incarcerated.

Mary Neal
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
Website:  http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com
P.O. Box 7222
Atlanta, GA  30357