Court rejects Carson's appeal for new trial
KNOXVILLE — An appeal by former Scott County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Marty Carson has been rejected in federal court here.
In a 10-page opinion written by U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan, Carson’s request for a new trial was denied.
In November 2007, an eight-person jury found Carson liable for the death of his partner, Hubert D. “John John” Yancey, and awarded Yancey’s widow, Lori Yancey, $5 million in damages.
Carson’s defense team had argued that the award was excessive, that Carson was not acting under the color of state law on the fateful 2003 November night when Yancey was fatally shot, and that Carson deserved a new trial. However, that argument was rejected on all accounts by the court.
Varlan, who presided over the original trial, wrote that “the trial has not changed the court’s decision [on whether Carson was acting under the color of law],” and that “the court adheres to its previous analysis and conclusion.”
Yancey was killed when he was shot by Carson during the raid of a methamphetamine lab on Williams Creek Road on Thanksgiving weekend, 2003. Carson contends that he believed he was shooting at an armed suspect advancing on his position as he crouched in a bathroom near a bedroom where suspects were located. Yancey’s family contends that Carson intentionally killed Yancey to prevent Yancey from seeking the office of sheriff, and to silence an investigation by Yancey into alleged illegal drug trade by Carson. Carson has denied that he was involved in any type of drug trafficking.
At the conclusion of the week-long civil trial in federal court, the jury determined that Carson was liable for Yancey’s death, but it was not specified on the public record whether the jury had determined that Carson intentionally killed Yancey or whether it had determined that he acted maliciously and sadistically.
Carson’s attorney, John Duffy, had argued unsuccessfully before the trial began that Carson should be granted summary judgment in the case because he was not acting under the color of state law. He renewed that argument as part of his appeal of the jury’s verdict, adding that the verdict was “unreasonable in that no reasonable jury could conclude that [Carson] had a motive to intentionally or maliciously or sadistically shoot Yancey.”
Attorney Herbert Moncier, representing Lori Yancey, had argued that Carson was not entitled to summary judgment because Varlan had previously determined [before the trial began] that Carson had, in fact, acted under the color of law, and that the jury’s verdict was reasonable.
In his opinion, Varlan cited a federal statute that prohibits the court from questioning the credibility of certain witnesses or reweighing the evidence after a verdict has been rendered by a jury, adding that the court did not find the evidence “so one-sided that reasonable minds could not differ as to the conclusion to be drawn from the evidence.”
Duffy had also requested a new trial, based again on the issue of whether Carson acted under the color of law. He also charged that the court had erred in its instructions to the jury during deliberation, that the verdict of liability was against the clear weight of evidence, and that the jury’s assessment of damages was unreasonable.
Moncier countered that Carson had waived the color of law argument by failing to object during that portion of Varlan’s charge to the jury before deliberations began, and stated that the jury could reasonably award damages of $5 million, “particularly in light of [John John Yancey’s] physical pain and mental suffering.
In the court’s opinion, Varlan wrote that it “is not persuaded by [Carson’s] argument regarding the instructions to the jury,” and added that the jury’s verdict was “reasonable in light of all the evidence.”
An investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation following the November 2003 incident led to no criminal charges being filed. At a press conference five days after the trial, District Attorney General Wm. Paul Phillips announced that the investigation had determined the shooting to be accidental. The official investigation continued for several months thereafter before concluding.
At the civil trial last November, TBI Special Agent Steve Vinsant admitted that he was “troubled” by Carson’s actions, but added that he was confident in the findings of the initial investigation. Shortly after the jury’s verdict was returned in the trial, Phillips announced that an investigation by his office and the TBI into Yancey’s death had been renewed, in light of new evidence presented at the trial.
It has been anticipated that additional civil claims will ultimately be filed at the state level.