By Law Week
Sheriff Thomas Hanna of Sedgwick County, Colo., allegedly sexually assaulted an intellectually disabled prisoner while transporting her between county jails.
The victim, Peatinna Biggs, filed this civil rights suit through her guardian ad litem, Hollis Ann Whitson, against Sedgwick County, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department and Hanna in his individual and official capacities.
The district court granted the motion of the county and the sheriff’s department to dismiss the complaint against them, reasoning that the county could be liable only if “the challenged conduct [had] been taken pursuant to a policy adopted by the official or officials,” and “Hanna’s actions were not pursuant to Department policies, but in direct contravention of them.”
Hanna was then found liable by a jury in his individual capacity. Whitson appealed the dismissal of claims against the municipal defendants, which are legally equivalent to claims against Hanna in his official capacity, according to the opinion.