A Rockdale resident—who claims he suffered two weeks of partial paralysis from the waist down, and is now permanently disabled—fi led a federal lawsuit Monday in a Waco court against members of the Milam County Sheriff’s Department and others, including two elected offi cials.
Ty Clevenger, attorney for John L. Robertson, listed the defendants as follows:
• Sheriff David Greene.
• District Attorney Bill Torrey.
• Chief Deputy Chris White.
• Former Sheriff’s Department Captain/Jail Supervisor Katrina Douglas.
• Jailer Jonathan Mendoza.
• Jailer Cindy McBee.
• Jailer Joshua Hughes.
• Jail Nurse Stephanie Vargas.
• Dr. Stuart Yoffe, inmate physician.
• Capt. Ryan Blankenmeyer of the Sheriff’s Department.
• Milam County as an entity.
ALLEGATIONS—The lawsuit alleges Mendoza injured Robertson’s back during a 2016 jail incident and that Mendoza, McBee, and Hughes denied him medical attention for 24 hours.
It further alleges Vargas said Robertson was faking his injuries and that Vargas and Dr. Yoffe initially failed to monitor or treat Robertson’s blood pressure condition until receiving a letter from his attorney a year later. They are accused of medical malpractice.
The suit quotes a 2017 letter from Clevenger to Torrey maintaining the DA’s subsequent fi ling of a motion to revoke probation “appears to be retaliatory.”
It alleges the county, Greene, White and Douglas “did not adequately train or supervise the personnel under their authority.”
DA RESPONDS—The Reporter asked Greene and Torrey for comments, if they so desired, and Torrey provided the response on page 6A.
DETAILS—The suit lists the incident as occurring in mid-July, 2016 when Robertson was in the jail awaiting transfer to a drug treatment facility after seeking treatment for drug addiction.
It maintains while Robertson was handcuffed, and lying face down, Mendoza “dropped his full body weight on the Plaintiff’s back” at least three times and later “put most of his body weight” on his head, breaking a tooth.
It then alleges some of the defendants, falsely claiming Robertson was trying to kill himself, transferred the inmate to a fi lthy padded cell where he was “left for 24 hours without medical attention.”
The lawsuit alleges Vargas said “there was nothing wrong with him” and “he was faking his injuries.”
After a shift change, according to the suit, an ambulance was summoned and Robertson was taken to Scott & White Hospital where a “visibly irritated” doctor told a deputy Robertson had lost the feeling in his legs and was “partially paralyzed.”
According to the suit, Douglas drove to the hospital with a paper sack containing Robertson’s possessions, and tried to get him to sign “a piece of paper.”
When he refused, according to the suit, “they abandoned him at the hospital.”
The document states “Robertson was paralyzed from the waist down for two weeks.”
It maintains he required neurosurgery and extensive physical rehabilitation as a result of the injuries.
Clevenger said his client remains at Scott & White, is being treated for spinal nerve compression and is unable to use one of his legs.
PROBATION—It is alleged, because of his injuries, Robertson was unable to work and, therefore could not pay child support and probation fees.
He was re-arrested in 2017 after a probation revocation motion was fi led.
At that point Clevenger said he sent Torrey a letter saying Robertson was “permanently disabled” and charging the revocation motion “appears to be retaliatory.”
The suit says Robertson was held in the Milam County Jail for two months without being arraigned or legal counsel appointed for him.
It goes on to allege the sheriff and prosecutor “conspired to keep the Plaintiff’s status as an arrestee from being transmitted to the state court, thereby delaying his arraignment, denying the appointment of counsel and extending his stay in the county jail.
It alleges the sheriff and prosecutor “did this in order to retaliate against the Plaintiff (Robertson) for his public complaints about misconduct by county employees and because the Plaintiff had threatened to sue the county.”
THREAT—The suit alleges during that period Nurse Vargas and Dr. Yoffe “failed to monitor or treat the Plaintiff’s dangerously-high blood pressure despite repeated requests from the Plaintiff and that they failed to send him to physical therapy for his back injury.”
After a letter from attorney Clevenger, the suit notes blood pressure monitoring began and medication was prescribed.
The suit alleges, after the complaint by Clevenger, Robertson was transported to Temple for physical therapy where, while being unshackled, Capt. Blankenmeyer “threatened to shoot the Plaintiff.”
“As a result, the Plaintiff did not attend any additional physical therapy appointments while he was incarcerated,” the suit states.
JURY TRIAL—The suit requests a jury trial.
It requests “actual and punitive damages” from the defendants and does not specify a monetary amount.
It also asks the court to prohibit “further retaliatory prosecution.”
The case was fi led in federal court, citing allegations the plaintiff’s rights were violated under the fourth, eighth and 14th amendments of the U. S. Constitution.
Portions of those amendments deal with due process and equal protection (14th), “excessive and unnecessary force” (fourth) and cruel and unusual punishment (eighth).
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