FAYETTEVILLE — A federal magistrate is recommending dismissal of a prisoner’s civil rights lawsuit filed by a man who shot a policeman during a standoff.
Sergio Hidalgo Andrade Martinez was found guilty of eight counts of attempted capital murder.
Martinez shot Fayetteville police officer Blake Williamson in the ankle and shot at seven other officers during the standoff at an apartment complex in March 2012.
Martinez was sentenced in December 2012 to 147 years in prison. Should Martinez be released, federal authorities will deport him to Mexico.
Martinez claimed in a civil rights lawsuit Chris Fields, a Washington County Detention Center jailer, used excessive force against him, and Randall Denzer, jail supervisor, did nothing to protect inmates from abuse.
Martinez claimed he does not speak English and while he was a pretrial detainee he pushed an intercom button for help and was answered in English. After being unable to communicate, Martinez said he pushed the button again and a jailer came to the cell, threw him to the floor and pulled his arms behind his back to handcuff him. Martinez said his arm cracked and hurt.
Martinez was taken to a hospital where an examination found his arm was dislocated and fractured. After treatment, Martinez claims his arm hurt for several months.
Legal Lingo
Prisoners And Detainees
A prisoner is anyone who is deprived of personal liberty against their will following conviction of a crime. Although not afforded all the privileges of a free citizen, a prisoner is assured certain minimal rights by the U.S. Constitution and the moral standards of the community. Detainees are individuals who are kept in jail even though they have not yet been convicted of a crime. A majority of detainees are individuals who are unable to obtain sufficient funds to post bail and therefore cannot be released from jail pending a trial on the criminal charges.
Source: The Free Legal Dictionary
Video of the incident showed Martinez pushed the button several times before an officer came to talk to him. Martinez then pushed the buzzer again with the officer standing there and was reaching to push it again when the jailer grabbed his arm and pulled him from the cell where, after a struggle, he was taken down and handcuffed.
Attorneys for the jailers claimed they reacted appropriately to the situation and used no more force than was reasonably necessary.
“The court can only conclude that no reasonable juror could find that Officer Fields used excessive force,” Magistrate Erin Setser wrote in her report and recommendations for the case after viewing the videos.
Setser said videos clearly showed Martinez resisted efforts to take him into the hallway by bracing himself against the wall with his feet and then grabbing the door.
“Even if plaintiff did not understand a word Officer Fields said, it was clear from Officer Fields’ actions that he was attempting to get plaintiff into the hall,” Setser wrote. “Plaintiff’s actions establish that he resisted Officer Fields’ efforts to take him into the hall and handcuff him.”
The jailers are entitled to qualified immunity because they reacted reasonably to the situation, according to Setser.
Setser’s findings must he confirmed by a federal judge before the case can be dismissed.
In December 2012, Martinez also was found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of being a felon in possession of a gun, possession of cocaine and possession of drugs and a gun. Martinez faced 24 charges, plus sentencing enhancements for the use of a firearm during the commission of those crimes.
The jury recommended sentences that served consecutively would be more than 271 years in prison.
Washington County Circuit Judge William Storey accepted the jury’s sentencing recommendations and opted to run seven of the 14 sentences consecutively and the remainder concurrently.