A U.S. district judge will decide whether to dismiss a federal lawsuit against two Athens police officers, the city of Athens and other defendants in the death of a mentally ill man who died days after being Tasered at the hospital by an Athens police officer.

In April, attorneys for Athens police officers Greg Lott and Dusty Meadows and the city of Athens filed a 34-page brief in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, saying claims against the police officers, city and others “fail for a multitude of reasons.”

The judge has not yet ruled on their request.

Their brief is a response to a wrongful death lawsuit filed in federal court in January by attorneys for Dorothy Nelson of Athens. Her 49-year-old son, Randy Nelson, died Feb. 8, 2016, at Huntsville Hospital. She is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys fees and litigation costs. The lawsuit was filed in federal court because Nelson claims Randy’s civil rights were violated.

Defense claims

On Feb. 3, 2016, Dorothy Nelson took her son, Randy, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, to Athens-Limestone Hospital. He became unruly while there, prompting the hospital to call police. According to the brief, Officers Lott and Meadows arrived and “were told by a male medical staffer that Nelson was experiencing some psychosis, that it looked like he was trying to swing at staffers and that they needed to give Nelson injections of Geodon and Ativan to calm him down.”

According to the defense brief, audio and video from police body cameras show that after initially laying down, Randy got up and began swinging his arms at officers. Among other actions, he lunged at officers, kicked a male medical staffer and threw other items in the room.

At one point, Lott announced he has drawn his Taser. Before deploying the Taser, Lott approached the door, told Randy to calm himself and said they are not trying to hurt him. Randy throws a vial of medicine at the officers, striking Lott in the face.

He again tells Randy to stop and turn around but Randy walks toward Lott, swinging at him with his fists. Around that time, Lott tells Dorothy, “Mom, I’m going to have to Taser him and I don’t want to, but I’m going to have to, OK?”

She replied, “OK.”

When Lott again says, “There is no other way of doing this,” Dorothy again says, “OK.”

The brief also states “the video establishes that neither Dorothy nor any of the more than four medical staffers who are standing in close proximity looking at Officer Lott raise any objections or concerns whatsoever about those proposed course of action.”

After being Tasered, Randy continues to kick and try to throw medical cords at those trying to subdue him. Lott cycled the Taser more times, though the brief does not say how many, until a doctor was able to subdue him. Randy was still conscious and breathing at the time.

After medical staff began assessing Randy, they determined his color “appeared blue.” He was moved into another room, then sent to Huntsville Hospital, where he died five days later. His mother alleged he died of Taser-related injuries but her claim does not list a cause of death.

Defense arguments

An attorney for Dorothy — Martin Weinberg of Birmingham — told The News Courier Tuesday he had recently amended the complaint and added Athens-Limestone Hospital as a defendant. Attorneys with Lanier, Ford, Shaver & Payne P.C. of Huntsville — who are representing Lott, Meadows, the city and other defendants — asked the court to dismiss Nelson’s amended complaint, arguing none of the 11 claims against them are viable.

The 11 claims include a Fourth Amendment excessive force claim against Lott and Meadows; a Fourteenth Amendment denial of medical care claim against Lott and Meadows; a failure to intervene claim under the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments; a claim against the city for violating the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments; a claim against the city under the Americans with Disabilities Act; a claim against the city under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; claims against the hospital under the ADA and RA acts; a state-law claim for assault and battery against Lott and Meadows; a state-law “survival action” claim against all of the defendants; and a state-law wrongful death claim against all of the defendants.

In their brief, filed April 13, defense attorneys say the lawsuit should be dismissed for multiple reasons, including because the claims fail as a matter of law, because the plaintiff shows no evidence the accused violated the constitution, because the plaintiff fails to show the police or municipality had a custom or policy that showed deliberate indifference toward the plaintiff or violated a constitutional right, because the plaintiff showed no evidence the officers had any discriminatory intent toward Randy Nelson and because the plaintiff had no proof of inadequate training or supervision nor any proof the city made a deliberate choice not to train in this area.

They say the “survival action” claim should be dismissed because the tort claim was not filed before Nelson’s death and therefore, under the law, died with the decedent.

Finally, the defense attorneys say wrongful death is the only state-law claim the plaintiff’s lawyers can make. Yet, they argue, even that claim fails because the officers have immunity from “tort liability” that arises from their conduct in performing any discretionary function within the line and scope of their law enforcement duties.

The brief states, “Peace officer immunity is not limited to individual municipal police officers; rather, it is also available to the employing municipality.”