Rogers v. United States

302 F. Supp. 699, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9884
CourtDistrict Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedJuly 23, 1969
DocketCiv. A. No. 8784
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 302 F. Supp. 699 (Rogers v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rogers v. United States, 302 F. Supp. 699, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9884 (D.S.C. 1969).

Opinion

ORDER

SIMONS, District Judge.

The plaintiff instituted this action seeking the recovery of damages for personal injuries allegedly sustained due to the negligence of a United States Marshal under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1346(b)1 and 2671 et seq.

[701]*701Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that he was tried in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina, Columbia Division, for a federal crime, that he was found guilty, and was placed on probation. The complaint further alleges that at the time the plaintiff was convicted and placed on probation, the court issued an order that required the United States Marshal for the Eastern District of South Carolina to provide the plaintiff with transportation and subsistence from Columbia, South Carolina to his home in Loris, South Carolina; that pursuant to the order, the Marshal or one of his duly authorized deputies took custody of the plaintiff in Columbia and assumed the responsibility of providing him with transportation to his home, that he was taken to Sumter, South Carolina where he was released into the custody of one Henry Boone Brabham; and that the plaintiff went to Brabham’s home on the night of July 22, 1964, whereupon he was forcibly confined, assaulted, attacked, and otherwise severely abused and injured by Brabham. It is further alleged that the Marshal knew, or should have known, or ascertained, that Brabham was mentally and sexually unbalanced, being what is commonly referred to as a sadist, and that his release of the plaintiff into his custody in the nighttime in Sumter, South Carolina constituted a violation of the order of the court, and that such negligent conduct on his part proximately caused plaintiff to sustain severe, painful and permanent injuries to his person. The defendant answered with a general denial for a first defense; for a second defense the defendant alleged that the plaintiff was also negligent, and that such negligence contributed to and was the proximate cause of the incident and resulting damages complained of; for a third defense the government alleged that if the plaintiff were negligently released to Brabham such release was effected by the County of Sumter in its role as an independent contractor, or by its duly authorized agent acting within his employment with the County of Sumter; and finally, for a fourth defense, the government asserted that the plaintiff assumed the risk of his resulting injuries, and that of his own volition he accompanied Brabham to the latter’s home, thereby receiving the injuries complained of.

The County of Sumter was joined as a third party defendant pursuant to the government’s motion under Rule 14 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, it appearing that the County of Sumter might be liable to the United States under a contractual arrangement for the keeping of federal prisoners, should the United States be liable to the plaintiff. The case was tried before me without a jury in Columbia, South Carolina on April 1 and 2,1969.

In its consideration and determination of this case, this court is controlled and directed by Rogers v. United States, 397 F.2d 12 (1968), which reversed Rogers v. United States, 267 F.Supp. 25 (1967), wherein summary judgment was granted in favor of the defendant. The Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded the case for trial stating:

“On remand, the district court should consider, among other questions whether (a) Marshal Rowland knew or should have known in the exercise of due care of Brabham’s reputation and (b) whether the conduct of Jailer Beatson, who made the telephone contact with Brabham and who seemingly knew or should have known of Brabham’s perversion, can be imputed to the United States in view of the contract providing for the keeping of fed[702]*702eral prisoners in the Sumter County Jail. Depending upon his ultimate findings of fact, we think the trial judge should consider whether or not the marshal exercised less than ordinary care when he failed to make perfectly clear to the probationer the choices that were properly open to him under the order of the court— spending the night in jail, telephoning his parents or other friends in Loris to come for him, or renting a hotel room for the night at the government’s expense. Certainly if Jailer Beatson is found to be an agent of the United States and if it is further found that he knew of Brabham’s reputation, it would seem to follow that due care required him to warn Rogers of the danger of accompanying Brabham.”

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The plaintiff, now a resident of Lexington, North Carolina, formerly lived in Loris, South Carolina which is ■located approximately 100 miles from Columbia, South Carolina. During the year 1964 plaintiff was arrested by the federal authorities on the charge of interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle and was placed in the Sumter County, South Carolina Jail awaiting trial. At that time he was seventeen years of age and was approaching his eighteenth birthday in August of that year.

2. John A. Rowland was appointed United States Marshal for the Eastern District of South Carolina on or about April 13, 1961 and was acting in that capacity during all relevant times. His office had taken plaintiff into custody at Conway, South Carolina on the federal offense and had placed him in pretrial confinement in the Sumter County Jail, according to the terms of a contract2 between the United States and Sumter County.

3. After having remained in the Sumter County Jail for approximately two months awaiting trial, on the morning of July 22, 1964 plaintiff was transported from the jail to the United States District Court in Columbia where he entered a plea of guilty to the interstate transportation charge and was placed on five years probation by the Presiding Judge. When the fact that plaintiff was without funds and had no transportation to his home in Loris, South Carolina was called to the judge’s attention, he issued a routine order requiring:

“That the United States Marshal for the Eastern District of South Carolina shall provide the probationer with transportation in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 4283 3 from Columbia, South Carolina to Loris, South Carolina, together with a reasonable amount for subsistence.”

Pursuant to such order the Marshal’s office contacted local bus stations in Columbia seeking immediate transportation for plaintiff to his home that afternoon. Upon determining that no bus transportation was available that day Mr. Rowland, the Marshal, and his Deputy, Terry Pitts, advised plaintiff of that fact and suggested that he could spend the night in the nearby Lexington County Jail if he so desired, and that he would be furnished a transportation request for bus transportation to Loris the next day. Thereupon, the plaintiff advised the Marshal that he preferred to go back [703]*703to Sumter where he had left his clothes in the jail that morning, and that he could stay overnight there with a friend if he were unable to get a bus from Sumter to Loris.

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Bluebook (online)
302 F. Supp. 699, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9884, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rogers-v-united-states-scd-1969.