State of Midlands v Bobbi Campbell
(2007-2008)
On November 30, 2006, Child Protective Services worker Don/Dawn Francis arrived at the home of Bobbi Campbell to remove a child from Bobbi's care. Upon arrival, Francis entered the location and defendant Campbell stabbed Francis with a needle infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Francis then contracted the virus. Campbell subsequently entered into an open Alford guilty plea on the single charge of Assault in the Second Degree but retained the right to a jury sentence recommendation. A penalty phase will now be conducted. The State will present evidence of aggravation and the defense may present evidence of mitigation. The penalty range is five to thirty years, which can be served on probation or in state prison.
Jeffries v Polk County Police Department
(2006-2007)
On January 2nd, 2005, off-duty police officer Jamie Conmey heard a radio transmission come over dispatch saying that two suspects had just robbed Joe's Corner Store. The description said that the perpetrators were wearing white T-shirts and blue jeans, appeared to be teenagers, and had taken the cash in a brown paper bag. Officer Conmey put on the siren and started searching the neighborhood surrounding the store. Officer Conmey saw a teenager dressed in a white shirt and jeans climbing a fence in an alleyway. Officer Conmey pulled over and told the teenager to come down. The teenager stopped climbing the fence but did not come down. Seconds later, Officer Conmey shot the teenager in the side. Officer Conmey claims to have seen a gun, though no weapon was found at the scene. The teenager was rushed to the hospital as quickly as possible, where the teenager almost immediately fell into a coma, a state in which the teenager remains today.
The teenager was Max Jeffries. Max's parents, Sean and Leigh Jeffries, filed suit against the Polk County Police Department, alleging that the actions of Officer Conmey, who committed suicide shortly after the incident, and thus the Polk County Police Department, deprived Max Jeffries of Jeffries' constitutional rights to due process of law. In addition, the Jeffries allege that through its policy, custom, and practice, the Polk County Police Department deprived Max Jeffries of Jeffries' rights to due process of law. The Jeffries allege that as a result of the actions of Officer Conmey and the Polk County Police Department, their child experienced life-threatening injuries, and as such they are entitled to damages. This case has been bifurcated and as such, damages are not to be considered in this same proceeding.
State of Midlands v Tyler Perry
(2005-2006)
On Friday, October 22, 2004, after returning home from a night out with the soccer team, Bailey Reynolds was kidnapped from the Reynolds home. That evening Bailey's parents, Ryan and Madison Reynolds, were having dinner at the residence of Tyler and K.C. Perry. The couples both live in Evanston, Midlands. They had left their three children, Kayla, Spencer, and Bailey with the babysitter, Peyton Bralow. After checking on Bailey around 11:00PM, Peyton placed a 911 call to report a possible kidnapping. The police arrived shortly after the call was placed and found Peyton, Kayla and Spencer in the home. Upon investigation, a ransom note was found in Bailey's room asking for $250,000 for the return of the child. Three days later on Monday, October 25th, Bailey was found in a Hampton Hotel in the neighboring town of Freeport. The child was blindfolded and handcuffed to a pipe in the bathroom. Bailey was not physically injured and was returned to the Reynolds. After the police investigation, Tyler Perry was arrested for the kidnapping.