Jailed rape victim who sparked Jenny's Law sues hospital for allegedly conspiring with the county

A mentally ill rape victim is suing Harris County and the county's law enforcement agencies for jailing her over the Christmas holidays after she had a psychological breakdown on the witness stand while testifying against her attacker. The victim's face has been blurred in this photo to protect her identity. less A mentally ill rape victim is suing Harris County and the county's law enforcement agencies for jailing her over the Christmas holidays after she had a psychological breakdown on the witness stand while ... more Photo: Sean Buckley & Assoc. PLLC Photo: Sean Buckley & Assoc. PLLC Image 1 of / 30 Caption Close Jailed rape victim who sparked Jenny's Law sues hospital for allegedly conspiring with the county 1 / 30 Back to Gallery

The rape victim jailed to secure her testimony against her attacker two years ago launched a new civil suit on Monday, this time targeting the doctor and hospital that allowed prosecutors to take her away and lock her up.

"If you have an inpatient psychiatric patient who is not competent to care for or protect herself you can't just hand her over to anybody who shows up and claims that they have authority," said the woman's attorney, Sean Buckley.

Publicly identified only as Jenny - but named as Jane Doe in the legal action - the 26-year-old was jailed in late 2015 under an attachment order after she broke down while testifying against her rapist and prosecutors feared she wouldn't show up to court again.

Afterward, she was taken to a psychiatric unit at St. Joseph Medical Center, where she was diagnosed psychosis and suicidal ideation. But when she was scheduled for release a few days later, according to the suit, the hospital allowed an investigator with the Harris County District Attorney's Office to pick her up and toss her in jail for nearly a month.

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"No reasonable person in Defendants' positions could legitimately close their eyes to the fact that no one ever saw or presented an order requiring that plaintiff be transferred to Harris County jail," the suit alleges, adding that her jailing was "patently unreasonable in light of clearly established law."

The scathing legal claim, filing Monday in Harris County court, calls the hospital "plainly incompetent" for allowing Jenny's transfer to jail, accusing the medical facility of knowingly violating the law and acting with "reckless or callous indifference" to Jenny's rights.

The hospital and Jenny's doctor "impermissibly sought to rid themselves of the responsibility" of caring for Jenny by "illegally sending her to the Harris County jail," court documents allege.

Steward Health Care Systems, which just acquired St. Joseph Medical Center earlier this year, did not immediately offer comment on the case.

The filing comes right upon the two-year statute of limitations for filing a claim.

"We underwent a significant amount of debate over whether to do this," Buckley said, "but at the the end of the day we felt that the evidence and the circumstances really call for us to hold St. Joseph accountable."

Even as the new civil claim enters the system, Jenny's previous lawsuit against Harris County is still winding its way through federal court and is slated for trial in 2019.

Jenny's lawyers have long contended that the order used to lock her up was illegally obtained. In the 2016 federal case, attorneys alleged that the county and certain named defendants re-victimized and "re-raped" her by tossing her behind bars.

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While waiting in jail, Jenny was attacked by another inmate and not regularly given her medications, her lawyers alleged. At one point she was briefly charged with assaulting a jailer, though the charge was later dropped.

In early 2016, she was finally released after testifying against rapist Keith Edward Hendricks, who was hit with two life sentences. A Chronicle investigation later revealed that Hendricks was a serial rapist with a past conviction in Indiana, as well as prior arrests for everything from drugs to battery.

The case grabbed national headlines and dominated the 2016 district attorney's race, where Devon Anderson ultimately lost her bid for re-election.

Jenny's case has already sparked legislative change with the passage of "Jenny's Law," a measure that guarantees any victims or witnesses jailed to ensure their testimony will at least be given attorneys at public hearings.

But even as laws are passed and civil suits progress, Jenny is still struggling to pick up the pieces.

"Frankly, this experience was so traumatic over the course of a month that she will never be the same," Buckley said. "Her ability to live as an independent adult has been severely diminished, if not absolutely destroyed."