Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat, up for reelection this fall, is facing a new series of lawsuits claiming mistreatment of inmates in the county’s long-troubled jails.
On July 31, the estate of Dino Walker filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for his fatal stabbing in September 2022, alleging that neglect of the jail’s condition and negligence by jail personnel led to Walker’s death.
Now comes two more suits: a wrongful-death suit on behalf of Christina Brown, who died of a drug overdose in November 2022, and a civil rights case brought by Trevis Bufford alleging excessive force in October 2023.
Labat is not the only target.
The wrongful-death suit from Brown’s family tags Labat, the sheriff’s office, the county and several others identified only as John Doe. Bufford’s suit in U.S. District Court names Labat, the sheriff’s office, former chief jailer John Jackson, jail deputy Louis Brown and three unnamed deputies.
The sheriff’s office declined to comment on any of the suits, citing the ongoing litigation.
Sheriff’s records say Bufford was booked Aug. 8, 2021, on 19 charges including aggravated assault, attempted murder, armed robbery, drug offenses; and subsequently possession of a weapon by an inmate.
He was released exactly three years later — six days after filing suit — with most of those charges dismissed, several reduced to time served, and a $3,000 bond, according to jail records.
Bufford’s suit says he was held at the South Annex Jail in Union City on Oct. 5, 2023, when Sgt. Louis Brown was evening shift supervisor.
Deputies “shackled Mr. Bufford naked in chains and held him in what appeared to be a small cage for five days without food,” the filing says. Three or four other inmates were chained in the same cage, which was designed for one person, according to the lawsuit filed by attorney Marsha Mignott.
The suit alleges that Sgt. Brown “became enraged” when the cage door was left open allowing some of the inmates to get out, retrieved a shotgun and began kicking Bufford in the head.
Brown then fired the shotgun, causing Bufford long-term pain, hearing loss and psychological injury, the suit says.
The lawsuit alleges that Brown filed an inaccurate report to conceal his actions, and faced no consequences other than being transferred to courthouse duty. The sheriff’s office asked for an Open Records request to release its internal report on the incident. Five days after that request was filed, the sheriff’s office said an “update” would be provided.
Records from the Georgia Peace Officer Standards & Training Council say Brown’s background included at least two arrests and being fired by the Decatur and Jonesboro police departments before the Fulton sheriff’s office hired him.
According to a July 2019 consent order, POST suspended Brown’s law enforcement certifications for 36 months (retroactive to September 2017), followed by placing him on 24 months of probation.
The Fulton sheriff’s office hired him in March 2022 — about six months before his POST probation would have ended — and he was promoted to sergeant in July 2023.
Bufford’s suit says a history of complaints and confirmed abuse shows an obvious need for better training, but Labat and former Col. John Jackson routinely failed to discipline deputies who used excessive force. By the time of Bufford’s alleged beating, however, Jackson was no longer with the sheriff’s office. Jackson was one of three high-ranking officials Labat asked to resign in April 2023, as part of the fallout from the September 2022 death of Lashawn Thompson.
Brown was booked into the Fulton jail in January 2022 on drug trafficking charges. Jail records say she died in November 2022 — the first of four inmate deaths in one week.
Attorney LaKiesha Fair filed suit Aug. 8 in Fulton Superior Court for Dianne Brown, on Christina Brown’s behalf.
“A toxicology report revealed that Christina Brown died of acute fentanyl toxicity,” the lawsuit says. “Fulton County was aware that she used illicit drugs in the past. It’s obvious that she received the drugs, a prohibited substance, in the Fulton County Jail. It should be noted that this was during Covid and there were no outside visitors allowed. The only people who had outside access were the Fulton County Jail’s staff.”
Labat is seeking a second four-year term as sheriff. He handily won a May primary against three Democratic opponents, and this fall faces a write-in campaign from Charles Rambo. Rambo is running as a nonpartisan, but in four previous attempts ran as a Democrat.
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