The teen girl without a permanent home who was forced to don jail garb, wear handcuffs and ask for mercy after falling asleep in a courtroom is suing the Detroit judge who had her taken into custody.
Eva Goodman, 15, and her mother filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan against 36th District Judge Kenneth King. They allege he violated the teen's civil rights, arguing King acted outside the scope of his judicial authority when he detained her, yelled at her and threatened her with jail time.
"Common sense and the facts demonstrate that a grown man became rattled by a young girl that he falsely concluded to be and cast as a delinquent, who was actually a fragile teenager forced to attentively face a past trauma during an actual prior court proceeding that had ended, before shutting down during class," the lawsuit states.
Goodman and her mother, Latoreya Till, are represented by James Harrington and Gary Felty of Fieger Law. In addition to suing King, the family is suing the private security services at the court and two unidentified court officers in King's courtroom that day.
"It's been pretty devastating. Eva does not want to come outside," Till said at the news conference. Her daughter was at the law firm during the event but declined to be interviewed.
"I just want Judge King to take accountability for the way that he humiliated my daughter...I feel like he owes her a public apology. Not only that, he owes her more than just a public apology."
King did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Last week when he spoke with the Free Press, he defended his actions but acknowledged a lawsuit could be coming. He's also reported receiving death threats.
36th District Court Judge William McConico removed King from his docket late last week, saying King would not return until after undergoing training. King will still receive pay during his time away from the bench. A 2023 Michigan legislative analysis states district court judges receive just under $170,000 annually.
Wayne State University also recently removed King from two classes he was scheduled to teach this fall.
On Aug. 13, Goodman attended King's courtroom as part of a field trip with a nonprofit group. Till said her daughter did not know about the trip ahead of time and had never been in a courtroom before. Goodman and her peers first watched a hearing related to a homicide charge. The lawsuit states watching the proceeding forced the 15-year-old to relive a traumatic event and caused her to "shut down," prompting the sleeping. Lawyers declined to provide additional details about the event.
In between hearings, King spoke with the group, according to video of his courtroom posted to YouTube. He took off his robe at one point, handing it to a young man who also sat in the judge's chair while King spoke. Eventually King noticed Goodman sleeping and yelled at her to wake up. But after he saw her sleeping again, he had her taken away.
Goodman later told her mother that staff asked her to disrobe and put on jail garb. The teen took off her hoodie but refused to remove other garments, according to the lawsuit. Once she had on the green jail jumpsuit, she was placed in an isolated holding cell and handcuffed. Goodman told her mother there was a camera in the room, but otherwise she was alone.
About two hours after she was taken away, King had Goodman brought back to court. Video shows he stands, yells at her about being disrespectful, then asks her if she wants to go to jail. A defense lawyer King asked to stay to represent Goodman said the teen was tired and did not understand the seriousness of the situation.
Till later told the Free Press her daughter was tired because the family does not have a permanent place to stay and did not make it to bed until late the night before Goodman went to King's courtroom.
Eventually, King asked Goodman's peers by a show of hands to indicate whether he should let her go or send her to jail. Amid nervous laughter, most agreed he should show leniency, according to the video, which has since been removed from YouTube.
The lawsuit lists a litany of alleged violations of constitutional rights. That includes unreasonable search and seizures, being detained without due process, being compelled to provide evidence against herself, not getting the chance to hire a lawyer of her choosing and protection from "unusual punishment."
Harrington and Felty argues King had no authority to hold Goodman, and noted she was never charged with a crime. Even if he attempted to charge her with contempt of court, the lawsuit states King overstepped his authority to do so by ignoring rules dictating when and how a judge can use contempt powers.
Notably, the lawsuit points out King was not in the middle of any court hearing when he had Goodman detained. King previously told the Free Press court is in session any time he is in his courtroom; Harrington and Felty disagrees.
"(King) was acting as teacher, not judge when (Goodman) nodded off, and Court was not in session because there was no proceeding pending," the lawsuit states.
More:Wayne State University ends teaching gig for Detroit judge who detained sleepy teen girl
Broadly speaking, judges have immunity that protects them from lawsuits directly stemming from their actions on the bench. However, Harrington argues King's conduct occurred outside his purview as a judge.
"I can tell you with 100% certainty that there is zero immunity for what happened in the court room on this day," Harrington said.
"Eva wasn't a litigant. She wasn't a party. She wasn't a witness, she wasn't a lawyer, she wasn't a court officer. She was there on a field trip."
The same principle applies to the court officers named in the lawsuit. Harrington and Felty argues they acted inappropriately by complying with extra-judicial orders.
More:Detroit chief judge hopes other judge handcuffing sleepy teen won't undermine court
The lawsuit also states King inappropriately forced Goodman to reveal her name, age and other personal information during a proceeding broadcast online.
There is no specified dollar amount sought in the lawsuit. Rather, the lawsuit asks for more than $75,000 on each of the eight alleged violations.
Reach Dave Boucher at dboucher@freepress.com and on X, previously called Twitter, @Dave_Boucher1.
