The wife of a mental health worker killed by a client in 2010 can take the murderer's psychiatrist to trial in a wrongful death lawsuit, the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
Three judges with the state's appellate court ruled Wednesday that a Garland County circuit judge was wrong to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Victoria Fleming in her husband's death. The appeals court judges remanded the case to the lower court.
Scott Fleming, then 40, worked as case manager with Community Counseling Services Inc. in Hot Springs, when he was fatally shot 13 times on April 19, 2010, by a patient, Samuel Lands, at a company facility in Hot Springs.
Two years to the day of her husband's murder, Victoria Fleming filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Garland County Circuit Court against Lands, Lands' parents and the company Fleming worked for, as well as Lands' physician.
Fleming's attorney, John Talbot, said Wednesday that all of the parties have since settled for a "confidential" amount of money with Fleming, save for the physician, Kenneth Vest, who succeeded in having Garland County Circuit Judge Lynn Williams grant a summary judgment in his favor and dismiss the lawsuit.
According to court records, Lands had a history of mental illness and drug use, and while unmedicated in 2006, was arrested and charged with second-degree battery, assault and resisting arrest. He was acquitted of the crimes in 2007 by reason of mental disease or defect and placed in the State Hospital.
In April 2007, Lands was given a "conditional" release from the State Hospital, according to court records, and in October 2007, was transferred to the care of Community Counseling Services and was eventually housed in a group home in Hot Springs.
Despite violating drug use conditions of his release, Lands was granted a weekend pass to go home with his parents, Linda and Fred Lands, on April 16, 2010.
Lands stole a handgun from his father, who had testified that he usually kept it locked away when his son was around but failed to during that weekend.
The younger Lands was returned to the group home on April 18 and the next day killed Fleming, injured another resident at the facility and fled. He was eventually convicted of second-degree murder in Fleming's killing and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
According to court records, Lands had "sadistic" tendencies and impulse control problems when unmedicated. Before the shooting, Vest had weaned Lands off of his medications to get a better diagnosis of his mental diseases.
Vest argued in Garland County Circuit Court that he was protected by the two-year statute of limitations established by the state's medical malpractice laws because he had last treated Lands in February 2010. Vest also said that he was protected by "quasi-judicial immunity."
Fleming argued that the doctor had no such immunity and that the statute of limitations did not apply because Vest was giving continuous care to Lands.
In Thursday's opinion, appeals court Judge Waymond Brown wrote that Williams was right to consider the statute of limitation protections in the state's malpractice laws but did not apply them correctly. Brown wrote that the facts in dispute over Lands' continued care should be left to a trial jury.
On Wednesday, Talbot said he was pleased by the ruling but that much remains to be done.
"The case is certainly not over," he said. "Everything that a trial involves, it could go different ways at trial, but this is an important first step."
Metro on 11/05/2015