Three men involved in the restraint chair case that landed former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill in a federal prison have filed civil lawsuits against the ex-lawman.
Raheem Peterkin, Walter Thomas and Desmond Bailey are seeking jury trials and punitive damages connected to the case, which saw each restrained in the chairs for hours at Hill’s orders in the Clayton County jail.
Two of the men allege they suffered injuries to their wrists after their hands were cuffed behind their backs while the third accuses deputies of verbal abuse and at least one jail worker of striking him.
The Clayton Sheriff’s Office is not named in the suits.
Restraint chairs can only legally be used as a way to keep inmates from harming themselves or others. Hill was convicted by a federal jury in October 2022 of strapping six detainees in the chair for four hours and longer as a form of punishment.
Caren Morrison, a Georgia State University associate law professor, previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Hill’s criminal conviction sharply raises the chances of detainees winning their civil lawsuits.
Hill has been named as a plaintiff in nearly 30 lawsuits since 2020. His attorneys could not be immediately reached for comment.
The former sheriff was sentenced in March 2023 to 18 months in prison at FCI Forrest City in Forrest City, Arkansas. Hill was released to community confinement in March. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld Hill’s conviction in April.
The lawsuits from Bailey, Peterkin and Thomas — filed in recent days in U.S. District Court in Atlanta — follow those of earlier federal lawsuits filed by Glenn Howell and Chryshon Hollins, two other men involved in the federal indictment against Hill over the use of the restraint chairs.
Howell was a Butts County landscaper who was restrained in the restraint chair after arguing with the former sheriff over work Howell did for a Clayton Sheriff’s Office deputy. Hollins was placed in the device twice after the then 17-year-old trashed his own home after an argument with his mother.
Peterkin had been arrested in 2019 at his home after a standoff with police, who had been called to the residence because Peterkin was said to have been seen pointing a gun at two men in a car.
In Peterkin’s lawsuit, which was filed Friday, he said his detainment after arriving at the jail did not meet the conditions set by the law and the Clayton Sheriff Office under which restraint chairs could be used.
“At no point between Peterkin’s arrest and confinement in the restraint chair did Peterkin exhibit any behavior that could reasonably be considered violent, aggressive, or threatening towards himself, others, or property,” the lawsuit says.
Peterkin, who also is using Alpharetta-based CorrectHealth for allegedly failing to protecting him medically while he was restrained, said in his lawsuit that he allegedly sustained significant lacerations to his wrists after his hands were cuffed behind his back while in the chair.
He also said that he was strapped in the chair for more than four hours and urinated on himself because he was not allowed to use the restroom.
CorrectHealth did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
In a joint lawsuit filed Tuesday, Bailey and Thomas also said neither of them was acting in a manner that threatened themselves or others when they were restrained in the chairs.
Bailey, who had been detained at the Clayton jail after being arrested for alleged drug possession in February 2020, was allegedly put in the chair after he refused to answer Hill’s questions without the presence of an attorney. He was allegedly restrained in the chair for six hours, his hands cuffed behind his back.
“Bailey’s handcuffs were so tight that his wrists and hands eventually went numb,” the lawsuit alleges. “Further, the handcuffs caused Bailey to suffer open and bleeding cuts on both wrists, which required medical treatment and left scars.”
Thomas was jailed in May 2020 after being accused of driving with a suspended license during a traffic stop on Interstate 75. According to the lawsuit, Hill allegedly ordered Thomas restrained in the chair with his legs shackled. After a short time in the device, a jailer or deputy allegedly punched him in a face, according to the lawsuit.
Thomas also alleges a white cloth bag was placed over his head, he was verbally abused by staff and urinated on himself because he too was not given a bathroom break. In addition, he accused jailers of forcing him to take off his jail-issued orange jumpsuit and sit in a room for several hours with only a paper gown to cover him.
Thomas and Bailey also are suing 10 others on the sheriff’s office or jail staff as “John Does” because they do not know the individuals names.
“Plaintiff will amend this complaint to allege their true names and capacities when ascertained,” the lawsuit said.
Editor’s Note: This story has been changed to update new lawsuits filed against Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill.
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