Civil Rights Lawyers File Suit in Brain Injury Assault Case
By Merylee Robbins
Published on September 19, 2005
Johnson, 44, a mentally handicapped black man described as having the me brain functioning of a 12-year-old, was coaxed by a group of 18 to 24-year-olds into joining their party in a farm pasture near by. Once Johnson joined them, the partygoers took advantage of his reduced mental capacity, humiliating him for their own entertainment. The group of mostly young white males then began verbally assaulting Johnson with racial slurs and beat him unconscious for no reason. After severely injuring Johnson, they put him into the back of a pickup truck and left him by the side of the road. The brutal assault caused Johnson to suffer a brain hemorrhage, which further damaged his brain function, affecting both his ability to walk and speak.
Sadly, the criminal trial of the case resulted in minimal prison time for the individuals who carried out the malicious attack. Only two were charged with misdemeanors, serving 30- and 60-day sentences, while the other two were given probation. Upon examining the frightfully unjust outcome of this criminal trial, the Southern Poverty Law Center decided to assist Johnson and his family in filing a civil suit against his callous aggressors. The lawsuit names four of the male individuals who physically assaulted Johnson for negligence and assault. The suit also names one of the defendant's girlfriends for negligence, due to her refusal to drive Johnson to the hospital for medical treatment on the basis that he would leave bloodstains in her car.
Money awarded in the suit will go to pay for Billy Ray Johnson's future medical care. His family hopes to move him from the nursing home he currently resides in, into a better facility that can provide specialized assistance and therapy for his brain injuries.
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