Haney v. City of Paintsville. Ms. Richardson and Mr. Epperson successfully defended the City of Paintsville and the City’s police officers in connection with the arrest of decedent Prater, who attacked officers as they were attempting to arrest him. Prater had been taken to the hospital, but ran away from the hospital after ripping a phone off the wall and threatening staff. He was running the city streets while naked and entering area businesses. After officers reached him, Prater attempted to attack the officers several times before he was finally apprehended. Shortly thereafter, he became non-responsive. Efforts taken to save his life were unsuccessful. The wrongful death suit followed, claiming the officers were negligent and that the City and its police department negligently hired, trained, and supervised the officers. Full dismissals were secured at the trial court but partially overturned by a subsequent Court of Appeals decision. However, the Supreme Court reaffirmed and reinstated the trial court’s ruling, finding that the clients were protected by immunity and that no facts of record could be shown to suggest that any man acted unreasonably/in bad faith so as to prevent the application of immunity.
