An attorney representing two former Columbus police officers and an officer still on the force is denying a federal lawsuit’s claims against his clients.
James C. Griffin, a Meridian-based attorney, filed a response Monday in the U.S. District Court of Northern Mississippi in Aberdeen on behalf of former Columbus Police Department officers Garrett Mitten and Yolanda Young, as well as current officer Johnny Branch — all of whom are defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit the Ricky Ball estate filed in September.
Another former CPD officer, Canyon Boykin, shot and killed Ball on Oct. 16, 2015, after Ball fled a traffic stop in north Columbus. Ball was a passenger in the vehicle stopped.
The lawsuit, filed in the name of Paul N. Royal — an attorney at Memphis-based Crislip, Philip and Royal, and administrator of the Ball estate — also names Boykin, former Police Chief Tony Carleton and 10 “John Does” identified as police officers, and the city of Columbus as co-defendants.
Griffin’s response includes broad denials of many of the claims the Ball family levies against Branch, Mittan and Young. It also claims the officers are not liable for damages listed in the complaint.
Ball was shot twice and a 9mm handgun, which was reported stolen from Mittan’s home, was found near his body. Notably, the response totally denies the complaint’s claim Mittan planted the gun near Ball’s corpse after the shooting.
In several other places, the response denies that “Ricky Ball has been denied any right or privilege, or that any alleged duty to Ricky Ball has been breached under any law.”
The response also denies the complaint’s claim that Ball “was killed and his constitutional rights were violated” as a result of the defendants’ actions.
A Lowndes County grand jury has indicted Boykin for manslaughter in Ball’s shooting death. The city council also fired Boykin shortly after the incident for failing to activate his body camera before or during the incident and for inappropriate social media posts. Boykin also had an unauthorized passenger in his patrol car the night of the shooting.
Young and Branch were both at the scene of the shooting but neither have been indicted. The city suspended them both for not activating their body cameras. Young has since left the force.
The suit claims the city is liable because it failed to properly fund CPD and train its officers. It further claims that Carleton, who resigned as chief shortly after the shooting, failed to properly train his officers and correct policy deficiencies which might have prevented the shooting.
It further alleges Branch previously violated the city’s body camera policy, referencing a 2014 complaint against the city for the racial profiling outside of K-Mart.
The response says that the defendants do not have enough knowledge about that claim to form a belief about its truthfulness.
The Dispatch could not reach Griffin for comment by press time.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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