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Hollingsworth v. City of Laurel2/28/2002
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 8/15/2000
TRIAL JUDGE: HON. BILLY JOE LANDRUM COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: JONES COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY
DISPOSITION: REVERSED AND REMANDED - 2/28/2002
EN BANC.
. This is an appeal from a judgment of dismissal granted by the Jones County Circuit Court to Officer Macon Davis and the City of Laurel of a civil action that had been filed against them by Tie-Reace Hollingsworth, a minor, by and through Judia McDonald, his mother and next friend (Hollingsworth).
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW
. Hollingsworth alleges that on the 10th day of September, 1998, he was involved in a physical altercation with Macon Davis, a Laurel Police Department officer, which resulted in injuries to his knees that required medical care and surgery. Hollingsworth claims that while he was on his way to pick up his mother from work in Laurel, he was stopped by Officer Davis and instructed by him to exit the vehicle so that a search could be conducted. Hollingsworth contends that he protested the search, but complied with Davis's request to get out of the vehicle, whereupon Davis sprayed him with mace and tackled him. Hollingsworth was taken into custody and charged with a noise ordinance, seatbelt violation, improper equipment, possession of cocaine less than 1/10 of an ounce, failure to obey lawful order, resisting arrest and simple assault.
. As a result of these injuries, Tie-reace Hollingsworth, by and through his mother, Judia McDonald, filed a claim on December 15, 1999 against Davis and the Laurel Police Department pursuant to the Mississippi Tort Claims Act (Section 11-46-1, et seq. of the Miss. Code Ann.) claiming that Davis's actions were tortious.
. Davis filed an answer to the complaint January 28, 2000, denying much of Hollingsworth's complaint, but admitting that he did arrest Hollingsworth on September 10, 1998, that Hollingsworth resisted arrest, and asserting that he did not use improper force in making the arrest. Davis also set forth affirmative defenses that the suit was time barred pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-11, and that the suit was also barred because he had acted within the course and scope of his employment in accordance with Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-9(c)(d).
. The City of Laurel entered a special appearance on January 28, 2000, to assert that the Laurel Police Department was not a legal entity capable of being sued or served with process, that no suit regarding this matter had been filed against the City of Laurel within the statute of limitations and extended time, and that the suit should be dismissed with prejudice.
. Notice of Hearing of the Special Appearance of the City of Laurel was originally set for February 28, 2000, and then changed to March 20, 2000. The hearing occurred on March 20th, where the City of Laurel asserted that the suit had not been filed within the statutory time, causing it to be barred by the statute of limitations and that the police department of the City of Laurel was not a legal entity against which suit could be brought.
. Hollingsworth countered by stating that the suit had properly commenced in 1999 by notice being given to the mayor who was the acting police chief at the time. Hollingsworth also asserted that he was allowed a longer period of time in which to file suit due to § 11-46-11 of the Miss. Code Ann. being changed effective March, 1999, whereby the period to file suit was increased from ninety-five (95) to one hundred and twenty (120) days. The City of Laurel responded by arguing that the amendment to § 11-46-11 occurred after this matter ha
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