EXTRA CONTENT: Inmate’s lawsuit accuses jail guards of beating, spraying him with pepper spray

Read the lawsuit and accompanying documents by clicking here.

A former inmate at the Whitley County Detention Center is claiming he was isolated, beaten and doused with pepper spray, all without provocation, while housed at the jail last November.

Brandon Riley, 25, of Williamsburg filed a civil complaint in Whitley Circuit Court July 10 in which he details the claims. He is represented by Corbin attorney David O. Smith who filed the complaint on his behalf.

In the lawsuit, Riley says that on Nov. 30, 2012, Deputy Jailers Joe Hampton, Marvin Chuck Hammons and Bill McKinny “wrongfully harassed, intimidated, distressed, beat, hit, struck, assaulted, battered, wrongfully disciplined, inflicted chemical contamination upon, physically and mentally abused” him and violated his rights.

He goes on to assert in the lawsuit that jail guards purposefully put him in isolation so that he would be out of the presence of other inmates.

But the incident was captured on the Whitley County Detention Center’s prodigious surveillance video camera system; something Riley’s attorney say they plan to use in court as the best evidence to bolster their case.

“I can’t believe it. It’s sort of like Rodney King,” Smith said Tuesday. “They transferred him to another jail after they figured out he might sue. They treated him pretty nice for awhile so he wouldn’t sue, but when it didn’t work they just moved him.”

Riley is currently being held at the Grant County Detention Center. He is serving time following a conviction for theft and criminal mischief.

Whitley County Jailer Ken Mobley vigorously defended the actions of his Deputy Jailers, saying Riley was sent to isolation because he “disrespected a guard,” and eventually sued because he was angry by subsequent charges of promoting contraband and for being a persistent felony offender for which he was indicted March 18. According to court documents, guards searched work release inmates while they were at the Williamsburg City Garage on Dec. 7, 2012 and found 62 Meloxicam pills in Riley’s jacket pocket. Meloxicam is a non-narcotic pain reliever and fever reducer that isn’t typically abused since it has no properties that make it popular as a recreational drug.

Mobley said Riley wrote him a letter asking that the promoting contraband charge be dropped in exchange for not filing a lawsuit.

“I’m not going to be intimidated or blackmailed into dropping charges,” Mobley said. “We just don’t operate that way.”
Smith contends that the most recent charges were filed as a way to get even for Riley’s lawsuit.

The video in question shows Riley among several inmates in a cell on Nov. 30, 2012. He says something to one of the guards, Joe Hampton, about not speaking to him during a previous encounter at Pilot.

Hampton then enters the cell and begins yelling at Riley over the comments. The exchange contains large amounts of foul language.

Hampton then orders Riley to go to an isolation cell, but he refuses. He returns with another guard and Hampton accompanies them to the isolation cell.

Before entering the isolation area, Riley appears to resist and two guards take him to the ground. Two jail inmates “trustees” are nearby during the melee.

Later, three more jail employees help to subdue Riley. It appears as thought one of them kicks him before matters finally calm down and he is ushered to an isolation cell.

The last part of the video contains no audio. Hampton enters the isolation cell with a can of what appears to be pepper spray. Riley cannot be seen.

He leaves, and returns and appears to spray Riley several times.

After some time passes, guards return and Riley is removed from the cell to be cleaned up. Trustees come with a mop and spray bottles to scrub the cell clean of the spray.

Mobley said any time jail guards are forced to get physical with inmates, evidence of the incident is turned over the prosecutors for possible action.

“I turned the video over a long time ago to [Commonwealth Attorney] Allen Trimble to make sure he didn’t see anything wrong,” Mobley said.

All of the guards named in the lawsuit are still working at the jail and no criminal charges have been brought against them. Mobley added that Riley made a written statement following the incident that “he was not hurt.”

“He said he was fine and did not feel threatened and didn’t need any further medical attention and that he didn’t want to be transferred,” Mobley said. “In fact, we were going to let him go back out on work release, but when he was on the phone and that’s where we heard him threatening the lawsuit.”

Mobley said it is common to transfer inmates to the facilities that sue the jail, or threaten lawsuits, so no claims can be made regarding retaliation.

Smith said Riley was moved to make communicating with him more difficult and as a way to punish him by putting him far away from his family.

The lawsuit is asking for compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $5,000 and claims Riley’s rights under the Kentucky Constitution were violated.

No formal response to the lawsuit has yet been filed.