A federal judge says a lawsuit against the Harnett County sheriff and three detention officers can move forward following the overdose death of an inmate in 2021.
In the ruling, Judge James Dever said the administrator for the estate of Eric Griffith "produced evidence that (1) HCDC [Harnett County Detention Center] officers facilitated an active and rampant network of the sale, purchase and use of illegal drugs inside HCDC, (2) HCDC officers' actions show a pattern of deliberate indifference to inmates' serious medical needs, including drug withdrawals, (3) HCDC inmates frequently overdose on drugs, and (4) HCDC staff were not adequately trained."
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Dever denied two of three motions to dismiss filed by Sheriff Wayne Coats and three detention officers. The two accusations that remain active accuse Coats and the officers of "deliberate indifference to the serious medical needs" of Griffith, as well as "a policy or custom of deliberate indifference to the inadequate training of detention officers on the risks of delaying or denying treatment to inmates with serious medical needs."
The judge did toss out a complaint that named Harnett County as a defendant. He also denied a claim of qualified immunity for Coats and the jailers.
The lawsuit claims Griffith exhibited clear signs of serious drug withdrawal and other medical concerns when he was arrested for failing to pay a fine. According to the lawsuit, jailers did not report Griffith's condition to the medical staff, offer any medical treatment or medications and failed to follow the detention center's Health Plan.
Griffith died in June 2021 after his cellmate woke up and found Griffith unresponsive on the floor. According to the lawsuit, Griffith contacted jailers via intercom, but claims they were slow to respond and had trouble locating one of the facility's three Automated External Defibrillators [AEDs].
Griffith died of cardiac arrest and seizures. An autopsy determined those were likely caused by methamphetamine toxicity.
WRAL Investigates reached out to Coats for a response to the ruling, but he refused to comment because the lawsuit is still pending.