GEORGIA, USA — Attorneys for a man who spent time in the restraint chair under the order of embattled ex-Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill have filed a new lawsuit.
It comes after Hill was recently released from federal prison into community confinement after he was found guilty of violating the inmates' civil rights by putting inmates in restraint chairs.
The latest lawsuit also lists CorrectHealth Clayton medical staff as a defendant. It claims the medical staff engaged in unlawful force, a breach of duty and negligence.
The man listed in the lawsuit was arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at two men outside his home in Jonesboro and was booked into the Clayton County Jail. When he denied the allegations against him, Hill allegedly told staffers to "put his a** in the chair," where he was left strapped for hours under the orders of Hill.
Although the lawsuit provides a narrative for the restraint chair incident for that inmate and acknowledges the latest conviction, it also adds more allegations to the case, accusing Hill of battery, unlawful force and a breach of duty.
It claimed that the former sheriff immediately ordered the man, who was an inmate at the time, to be placed into the chair as soon as he was arrested and placed into custody at the jail.
Attorneys also alleged that the man was not showing behavior that would warrant extra restraint in his case in 2019.
The document claimed that the man was in the chair for four hours, where he was denied the use of a restroom and was in intense pain after allegedly being put into the chair improperly. Attorneys for the man also alleged that Hill destroyed evidence once the FBI began investigating his misses of the chair.
Recently, attorneys for Hill attempted to file an appeal after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but an appeals court denied his case.
11Alive has contacted the CorrectHealth company for a response to the lawsuit and is waiting to hear back.
More on the case
Victor Hill is widely known in metro Atlanta. He called himself “The Crime Fighter” and has used Batman imagery to promote himself on social media and in campaign ads. This was his second trial on criminal charges. Clayton County voters reelected Hill in 2012 while he was under indictment the first time, accused of using his office for personal gain. He beat those charges.
In April 2021, a 12-page federal indictment was unsealed, charging Hill with four felonies. Prosecutors argued Hill violated the civil rights of four Clayton County jail inmates in 2020. Hill was accused in the indictment of directing the inmates to be strapped into restraint chairs for several hours.
A new indictment was brought against Hill in March, adding two new charges to his criminal case. The first indictment listed four victims, and a first superseding indictment brought that total to five.
Another man was arrested at his home in Hampton for allegedly possessing drugs and illegal firearms and was "compliant and never posed a threat to anyone" upon being taken into custody, according to the indictments. When he told Hill he did not want to speak to him, the sheriff allegedly ordered him into a restraint chair, and, similarly, he was left strapped there for hours.
Another alleged victim responded, "It's a democracy," when the sheriff asked him why he was in Clayton County, according to the document. He also asked twice if he was entitled to a fair and speedy trial, to which Hill allegedly replied: "You entitled to sit in this chair, and you’re entitled to get the hell out of my county and don’t come back. That’s what you’re entitled to. You sound like a d*** jacka**."
In another instance, a 17-year-old was allegedly left in the restraint chair. In one alleged incident, Hill told two detainees already strapped into restraint chairs that he would "sit your a** in that chair for sixteen hours straight" if they repeated criminal behavior.
