HOUSTON (CN) - A man claims in Federal Court that a
jailer beat and raped him with a billy club in a Houston city jail, saying,
"How do you like this, you faggot?" - then said he would not have
done it had he known he was assaulting a veteran.
DL sued the City of Houston, its Police Department, John Doe Jailer No. 1 and
Jane Doe Jailer No. 2.
DL says two people tried to rob him with a knife in a restaurant parking lot on
Jan. 9, 2011, and he tried to call 911 several times during the attack.
He says when four police officers arrived, they told all the witnesses to
leave.
He says he "again dialed 911 due to the complete lack of responsiveness of
the officers on the scene in an effort to obtain effective police assistance.
Plaintiff was then arrested for telephone/communication harassment,"
according to the complaint.
DL says he was booked into Houston City Jail where he "declared" his
homosexuality, after reading a sign on the wall instructing prisoners to
declare if they are gay so they can be segregated from the general jail
population.
"As he was being booked into custody, plaintiff began to be harassed by
the jailers and was called a 'faggot.' Plaintiff was then placed in an ad seg
holding cell as two (2) jailers stood outside the cell and mocked him,"
according to the complaint. "Plaintiff continued to be verbally harassed
by jailers.
"John Doe Jailer No. 1 ('Jailer No. 1') told plaintiff 'Oh, so you're the
faggot,' and 'I will teach you something, faggot.' Jailer No. 1 is a large
Hispanic man weighing over 250 pounds. Jane Doe Jailer No. 2 ('Jailer No. 2')
is an African-American woman who is of average size and build.
"Jailer No. 1 then opened the cell door and handcuffed plaintiff and took
him down the hall and around the corner. Jailer No. 1 told plaintiff that where
he was taking him to a place in the jail that did not have video coverage and
they would be alone.
"Once in the private portion of the jail where no security cameras
maintain surveillance, Jailer No. 1 proceeded to pull down plaintiff's shorts
and underwear. After stripping plaintiff of his clothes Jailer No. 1 hit
plaintiff with a black police club in both knees, causing plaintiff to fall to
the ground. Jailer No. 2, observing the attack, began laughing at plaintiff.
"After plaintiff fell to the ground, Jailer No. 1 began to kick plaintiff
in the ribs while stating, 'How do you like this, you faggot?' Plaintiff
pleaded for the jailers to stop and called for help to no avail.
"Jailer No. 1 then threatened plaintiff with the club, stating 'I bet
you'd like this up the ass.' Jailer No. 1 then inserted the police club into
plaintiff's rectum."
DL says Jailer No. 1 kicked him some more, then pulled him up by his handcuffs
and put him in solitary confinement in a urine-soaked cell.
"There was no toilet in the cell and plaintiff's requests to use the
restroom were denied; and plaintiff urinated upon himself as a result.
Plaintiff was eventually returned to his original holding cell," the
complaint states.
"A short while after the attack, Jailer No. 1 returned to plaintiff's
holding cell and said that he, Jailer No. 1, did not know plaintiff was a
United States armed services veteran and Jailer No. 1 said he would not have
assaulted plaintiff if he had known plaintiff was a veteran."
DL says he suffered "multiple injuries during the attack, including
bleeding from the mouth and bruised knees, and injuries from being raped with
the police club."
He says he asked for medical assistance but did not receive any.
"Plaintiff reported to the sergeant on duty that he was raped, and the
sergeant informed plaintiff that he didn't care," the complaint states.
After being transferred to the Harris County Jail on Jan. 13, 2011, DL says, he
was released on personal bond, and he went to the VA Hospital's emergency room
in Houston the next day to get treatment for his injuries.
"On or about January 15, 2011, plaintiff reported the rape and assault to
the Houston Police Department Internal Affairs officer. The assigned IAD
investigating officer and another officer with that department interviewed [DL]
and videotaped the interview," according to the complaint.
"During that time, [DL] described the attack and completed forms and
reports requested by the IAD officers."
DL adds: "The IAD officers interviewed the accused jailers, who perjured
themselves and denied the assault and rape occurred. It is also believed that
either the IAD investigation officers or the Harris County District Attorney's
office secured the Houston City Jail videotapes of the booking and of [DL], his
time in the holding cells and his transport down the hallways of the jail the
day of his assault; however, according to the Harris County District Attorney's
office, certain critical portions of the jail videotape are missing.
"Still, the jail videotape shows [DL] visibly shaken and collapsing in the
holding cell once he was taken back there after the assault.
"After additional investigation by the district attorney's office, Jailers
No. 1 and No. 2 were called before a grand jury. On information and belief, the
defendant jailers again perjured themselves and denied the attack in front of
the grand jury. After reviewing the available evidence, the grand jury declined
to no-bill the jurors."
DL seeks punitive damages for assault, battery, excessive force, due process
violations, cruel and unusual punishment, sexual assault, wrongful refusal of
medical treatment, conspiracy, false arrest, false imprisonment, abuse of
process, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and gross
negligence.
He also wants the city ordered to keep all evidence related to his case
including statements, videotape, medical records and incident reports.
He is represented by David Van Susteren of Houston.
