A Soddy-Daisy police officer under investigation by the FBI, reportedly for beating a handcuffed man in 2019, has asked a federal judge to put a lawsuit against him on hold while the criminal investigation continues.
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Clayton Whittaker in April, accuses officer Jeffrey Rahn of excessive force and ignoring medical needs. It also claims the city of Soddy-Daisy failed to train and supervise its officers, and due to that failure, it created an "official custom" allowing excessive force by its officers.
Another recent lawsuit makes similar claims after a 74-year-old - allegedly blindfolded - man who suffered from dementia was shot and killed by three Soddy-Daisy officers last year after he reportedly pointed an unloaded gun at them.
According to Whittaker's suit, Rahn was on patrol when he spotted William Byrum speeding on June 11, 2019, and gave chase.
Byrum had just arrived at his parents' home on Dallas Hollow Road and was walking toward the back door when he saw Rahn on the property, the lawsuit states, adding that Rahn then drew his weapon, ordered Byrum to the ground and cuffed him.
After searching him, Rahn "violently threw [Byrum] to the ground while [he] was still wearing handcuffs," the suit claims.
He then "struck [Byrum] several times with his fists and kicked him in the back, causing him severe injuries including broken ribs, bruising, swelling, contusions and abrasions to his face."
"[Byrum] was struck by the officer while still handcuffed and while he was defenseless. There was no legitimate reason for the use of force by Officer Rahn, but on the desire to injure [Byrum]," Whittaker argues. "No reasonable officer would [have] acted as Officer Rahn acted."
The interaction was captured on home security footage, the suit states.
While transporting Byrum to the Soddy-Daisy police station, Whittaker claims, Rahn bragged "about his prowess as a boxer and that [Byrum] was lucky that he was only injured to the degree that he had been and that [he] deserved much worse."
Once at the police station, Byrum could hear officers talking about the beating and "offering encouragement to Rahn's brutalizing of [him]," the suit claims. "Other officers were also bragging about their use of assaultive behavior with persons they had arrested."
In an arrest affidavit, Rahn detailed the allegations against Byrum but "left out of his narrative about his merciless and unjustified beating" of Byrum, according to the lawsuit.
At the Hamilton County Jail, Byrum was reportedly not given any medical care for his injuries, according to the suit.
Rahn remains employed by the Soddy-Daisy police department and is on administrative duty, Soddy-Daisy city attorney Sam Elliott said. The department's internal investigation has been put on hold while the FBI investigates.
Through his criminal defense attorney, Lance Pope, Rahn declined to comment, citing the ongoing federal investigation.
"As a member of law enforcement with over seven years' experience, Officer Rahn understands the importance of that investigation and chooses not to make any further comment about the allegations at this time," Pope said.
The city of Soddy-Daisy, in its response to the complaint, denied any wrongdoing. And Elliott said the city plans to "vigorously" defend the case.
Since the incident, the FBI has reportedly opened a probe into the alleged brutality, according to an affidavit filed in federal court by Pope.
The affidavit was filed as a support to a motion in the civil case by Rahn's civil defense attorney, Reid Spaulding.
Spaulding earlier this month asked a judge to put the lawsuit on hold while the criminal investigation gets underway.
In the motion, Spaulding argues that any criminal investigation by the FBI will ultimately exonerate his client. But if Rahn has to defend himself in the lawsuit, it could jeopardize his defense in the criminal case because whatever he says could be used against him. And if he asserts his constitutional right to remain silent, it would hurt him in the civil case. That's because, while juries in criminal cases aren't allowed to consider a defendant's failure to testify as evidence of guilt, juries in civil cases are permitted to draw their own conclusions based on a defendant's refusal to testify.
Whittaker disagrees that the civil case should be put on hold, noting that Rahn hasn't been indicted, and there's no way to know whether he ever will be.
"[T]he community has an interest in seeing the normal function of the legal system including the rights for victims of police brutality to seek redress and compensation," Whittaker wrote, noting that legal actions such as the lawsuit have provided the benefit of bringing wrongdoing to light for all the community to see.
"A stay hides the conduct of the defendant, Jeffery Jon Rahn, the policies, practices and procedures of the Soddy-Daisy Police Department and continues to cast doubt on the efficacy of our legal system.
"This is an attempt by Defendant Rahn to avoid justice, not exercise any constitutional right."
Recently, a similar request to pause civil proceedings in the cases against former Hamilton County sheriff's deputy Daniel Wilkey, who is facing 10 civil suits and 44 criminal charges, was denied, even after Wilkey was criminally indicted.
But each case is different, and judges must weigh multiple factors when deciding whether to grant the hold or let to a case continue. At this time, a hearing has not been set.
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