LITTLE ROCK-Two Pulaski County sheriff's deputies denied dislocating the shoulder of a man later convicted in the death of a central Arkansas real estate agent.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Arron Lewis, who was convicted in the 2014 kidnapping and murder of Beverly Carter, filed a lawsuit alleging excessive force against Reserve Deputy Gary Seibel and Lt. Jackson Bennett. The suit claimed Lewis' arm was twisted out of its socket during questioning about Carter's disappearance, and then dislocated again after doctors fixed the shoulder. Lewis is seeking monetary damages.
Bennett testified Tuesday that he took Lewis to the hospital on Oct. 1, 2014, after he complained of shoulder pain and waited while doctors positioned the shoulder back into place. Bennett said he told the doctor that Lewis couldn't keep the immobilizer on his arm because he'd been placed on suicide watch and the sling could be used as a choking device.
Bennett said he removed Lewis' sling, but not in a violent manner.
Sheriff Doc Holladay, who was also named in the
lawsuit, testified that Bennett followed county policy be refusing to let Lewis wear the immobilizer.
"It was my decision to put him on suicide watch until he could be seen by one of our two psychiatrists or our medical staff," Holladay said. "I didn't want anything to happen to him or anyone else."
County attorney David Fuqua suggested Lewis hurt his shoulder when he jumped from a second-story roof before Little Rock police arrested him. Lewis has acknowledged he injured his ankles and knees in the jump.
Lewis was convicted in January of capital murder
and kidnapping. His estranged wife, Crystal Lowery, pleaded guilty last year to similar charges.