Kate RoyalsThe Clarion-Ledger

The former top official of the Mississippi Highway Patrol may be held accountable for not reporting an assault by a trooper on a woman in 2007.

According to the lawsuit filed against former Mississippi Highway Patrol Director Michael Berthay, Berthay viewed a video tape of former trooper Christopher Hughes beating Carol Wampler-George, who was detained at the Lee County Jail, but did not take any action.

Berthay was Hughes' supervisor from 2007 to 2010, during which two of five alleged beatings – including the assault on Wampler-George to which Hughes pleaded guilty – took place.

District Judge Glen H. Davidson issued two orders last week in the case against Berthay, one of which stated there was sufficient evidence for a jury to find that Berthay was aware of Hughes' alleged violence and failed to take corrective action.

The video tape reportedly showed Hughes throwing Wampler-George against the concrete floor and stomping and kicking her in the head.

Besides Berthay, the suit names Hughes and the Commisoner of Public Safety for the State of Mississippi as defendants.

Berthay couldn't be reached for comment. Berthay's lawyer, Robert Sanders, declined to comment but referred to a brief filed earlier this year. The brief states Berthay was never aware of the alleged violence, but even if he were aware, he is protected by qualified immunity, which protects public officials from being sued for damages in some cases.

Berthay's lawyers also claim that while Berthay was the final decision making authority in terms of discipline and discharge, he was not the only decision maker.

Attorney Jim Waide, who represents Wampler-George, said the real hero in the case is Mississippi Highway Patrol Lt. James Brown.

In July of 2012, Hughes allegedly fractured the jaw of John Hawn, a man who had been stopped for drunk driving at a roadblock near Mooreville, according to court documents.

Upon hearing of Hawn's condition, Brown reportedly searched through Highway Patrol files and came upon the 2007 videotape of Hughes beating Wampler-George at the Lee County Jail. Brown told Highway Patrol Director Donnell Berry of the tape, which was used as evidence in the FBI's investigation of Hughes. Berthay resigned as director in 2010.

Five people filed suit against former trooper Hughes in 2013, alleging he used excessive force against them between 2007 and 2012.

One woman, a 63-year-old public school teacher, alleged Hughes threw her against a wall and threatened to break her arm. Another man involved in the local church community said Hughes pulled him over, falsely assumed he was drunk, hit him in the mouth and then arrested him.

Still another man claimed Hughes beat him in the head repeatedly at a roadblock, causing permanent brain damage.

Hughes, who was reportedly using steroids during the period the alleged beatings occurred, pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of civil rights of Wampler-George. As a result of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to charge Hughes with deprivation of rights charges in two other alleged incidents.

Hughes is serving a 33-month sentence at Big Spring Correctional Center in Texas.

To contact Kate Royals, call (601) 360-4619 or emailkroyals@gannett.com. Follow @KRRoyals on Twitter.