3 Tarrant jailers named in Anthony Johnson lawsuit file answers in court, deny wrongdoing
In official answers to a lawsuit brought by the family of Anthony Ray Johnson Jr., three jailers named in the suit denied any wrongdoing in Johnson’s death.
JaQuavious Simmons, Elijah Marez and Jonathan Nymoen all also claim to be protected from the lawsuit by qualified immunity, a legal concept created by case law that says, essentially, that law enforcement officers are immune from lawsuits over actions taken while they were working in their official capacity.
Johnson was killed in the Tarrant County Jail on the morning of April 21, less than 48 hours after the 31-year-old Marine Corps veteran was arrested in Saginaw while experiencing a schizophrenic episode, according to authorities and his family. He was turned away from a mental health facility earlier on the day he was arrested because he was not violent toward himself or others, his family told the Star-Telegram.
The three jail employees were added as defendants in the lawsuit on Aug. 11, with new details added to the 65-page complaint outlining specific allegations about them. Other named defendants are Tarrant County, and fired jail employees Rafael Moreno and Joel Garcia, who both have been indicted on murder charges in Johnson’s death. Moreno put his knee on Johnson’s back for about 90 seconds while Johnson was handcuffed on the ground, partial video of the altercation shows. Garcia was a supervisor and recorded part of the video on a cellphone.
Multiple other jailers are listed as “John Doe jailers” in the suit. The attorney representing the Johnson family, Daryl Washington, has said he expects to add their real names over time.
In the civil suit, Simmons faces allegations including that he discharged pepper spray into Johnson’s mouth and contributed directly to his death. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Johnson’s death was a homicide caused by mechanical and chemical asphyxia.
In the answer filed with the court, Simmons admits to deploying pepper spray but denies hitting, kicking or attacking Johnson or that he discharged the pepper spray directly into his mouth. He also denies that he “had words” with Johnson before the fight leading to his death and that he went into Johnson’s cell and forcibly removed him.
Simmons quit his job at the jail after Johnson’s death, according to public records obtained by the Star-Telegram. He listed the reason for his departure as voluntary due to a lack of opportunity.
Marez and Nymoen also denied any wrongdoing in their responses.
The jailers admitted to certain details in the lawsuit — such as that pepper spray was deployed, Johnson is dead and video of the fight leading to his death exists — but otherwise said they didn’t have enough knowledge about specific allegations to respond or denied that anything that happened was illegal.
Washington, the Johnson family’s attorney, has repeatedly told the Star-Telegram that Simmons’ use of pepper spray was excessive, inappropriate and directly contributed to Johnson’s death. He also said there are questions about whether Johnson was targeted because of an argument he had with Simmons before his death.
Attorneys for Simmons, Marez and Nymoen declined to comment.
According to court documents, the family and Tarrant County informed the court that they plan to meet on Sept. 27 for mediation discussions regarding the case against the county. The court put the civil cases against Moreno and Garcia on hold while the criminal cases against them are pending.
An ongoing letter-writing campaign is demanding the full video of Johnson’s death be released. The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office released a partial, edited video that ends when Johnson becomes unresponsive, but has refused calls to release the full version.
The description of the Action Network campaign says the Sheriff’s Office is trying to avoid scrutiny and manipulate opinion.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to the Star-Telegram that it has not released the full video because of internal policy.
“Our decision to not release the video is not ‘an attempt to manipulate public opinion and avoid scrutiny’ as the letter writing campaign would lead you to believe,” the statement read. “Instead, as we’ve stated all along, it is against TCSO standards to release any images (still or video) of unresponsive or deceased individuals.”