Patricia Borns

pborns@newsleader.com

WAYNESBORO How qualified are the health care staff who screen people for mental health conditions? Should someone with an education degree and a police backup be able to commit a person to a mental health facility?

Those are the questions a Rutherford Institute legal team is asking in a Fourth Amendment lawsuit on behalf of Gordon Goines of Waynesboro, whom police and mental health officials arrested, diagnosed as mentally ill and committed to a mental health facility against his will for five days, attorneys contend.

The problem was that Goines wasn't mentally ill at all, the court filing says. He has a medical condition similar to multiple sclerosis that impairs his speech.

But what started as Goines' attempt to find out if a neighbor was hacking into his cable service culminated with him being committed to a psychiatric ward, according to lawyers. They claim that events ended that way because an unqualified healthcare worker aided by policemen leaped to the wrong conclusion.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that Valley Community Services Board allowed unqualified staff to make the mental health examination that led Goines to be deprived of his Fourth and 14th Amendment rights.

"By giving government officials the power to declare individuals mentally ill and detain them against their will without first ensuring that they are actually trained to identify such illness, the government has opened the door to a system in which involuntary detentions can be used to make people disappear," said John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute.

Facing a lawsuit

VCSB Executive Director Dave Deering said the agency couldn't comment.

"VCSB still has not been served, so we aren't able to comment on the legal proceedings," Deering said. "And, regarding the clinical information, without a release from Mr. Goines, VCSB cannot comment because of the requirements for confidentiality of personal health information."

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Goines, 37, has a neurological condition called cerebellar ataxia, which makes it hard for him to maintain his balance. Because of the illness, his walk is unsteady at times, the filing says. He speaks slowly with a slur and struggles with fine motor skills.

Otherwise, the Waynesboro man is of more than average intelligence and perfectly alert and aware, his lawyers report.

Five days after he was committed to Crossroads, an acute inpatient psychiatric stabilization program of Augusta Health, a judge found as much, and released him.

The Fourth Amendment, on which the case is based, protects the right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Starts with the TV

A message for Goines was left with legal staff at the institute, but he wasn't available for comment Wednesday.

His lawyers, however, tell his story. Goines says that on May 15 of this year, he called his cable company because his TV had poor reception. A technician suggested that a neighbor had wired into his cable and was using it, too. The tech suggested Goines report it to police, so he did.

When two Waynesboro police officers came to Goines' home to investigate, one of them reported he was having "mental health issues," according to the brief. The officers questioned him about his "mental health issues." Goines replied that he didn't have any.

But the officers pressed on, asking Goines if he'd like to go talk to someone. Goines thought they meant talk to someone about the theft, so he agreed. Police then handcuffed him and took him to Augusta Health even though he pleaded to be taken home.

At the hospital, a Valley Community Services Board employee determined Goines was psychotic and petitioned for his involuntary detention, according to the complaint.

The VCSB screener, Jenna Rhodes, allegedly lacked the training required by Virginia law to make that call, Goines' lawyers stated. They said Rhodes, whose VCSB title is emergency services and intake clinician, was neither a licensed medical professional, clinical psychologist or social worker, yet the petition was granted.

Five days at Crossroads

Goines was then held against his will for five days at Crossroads Mental Health Center, according to Timothy Coffield, an attorney assisting the Rutherford Institute with Goines' civil rights lawsuit.

Among the defendants named in the lawsuit are Waynesboro police officers David Shaw, Robert Dean and D.L Williams, as well as an officer identified as "Officer Scott," Rhodes of VCSB and the VCSB itself.

Waynesboro Police Sgt. Brian Edwards, a spokesman, said a gag order has been issued by the city's chief of police regarding the case, which has been referred to outside counsel Richard Milner of Charlottesville.