A United States District Judge has ordered that a deposition taken of former Columbus police officer Canyon Boykin in his wrongful termination lawsuit against the city can only be used for that case.
United States Magistrate Judge David A. Sanders, in a protective order filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi in Aberdeen, said Boykin’s deposition cannot be used in the criminal case pending against him in Lowndes County Circuit Court — in which Boykin is charged with manslaughter in the October 2015 shooting death of Ricky Ball. Sanders said doing so would violate Boykin’s rights.
The order prevents public access to Boykin’s deposition, and closes any filing that uses all or part of the deposition from public access with the intent that “no part of Boykin’s deposition shall be revealed to any third-party.”
“In the event that Boykin’s deposition should be used in any future motion, the parties shall request that it be filed under seal,” Sanders wrote. “Should any portion of Boykin’s deposition be quoted in any brief, the party so filing the deposition shall request that it be filed under seal.”
Sanders’ order only allows the attorneys in Boykin’s wrongful termination case direct access to his deposition, and forbids them from making copies of it if they share it with defendants in the case.
Jackson attorney Jeffrey Reynolds, who is representing Boykin in his criminal and civil cases, declined to comment on-record about the order.
Boykin shot and killed Ball after Ball fled from a traffic stop in north Columbus. Ball was a passenger in the stopped vehicle. He was shot twice and a 9mm handgun was found near his body.
The city council fired Boykin shortly after the shooting for failing to activate his body camera before or during the incident and for inappropriate social media posts. Boykin’s then-girlfriend was an unauthorized passenger in the patrol car the night of the shooting.
Boykin sued the city for wrongful termination in February 2016. He is also a defendant in two wrongful death lawsuits filed in federal court.
Boykin’s criminal case
A Lowndes County grand jury indicted Boykin last September.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood’s office is prosecuting Boykin’s criminal case.
“The parties acknowledge that the Mississippi Attorney General has no authority to obtain any statement of a criminal defendant by virtue of the Fifth Amendment,” Sanders wrote.
Mississippi 16th Circuit Judge Lee Coleman granted a change of venue motion for Boykin’s criminal case in November. Boykin still awaits a hearing date or ruling to determine where that case will move.
Martin case
In a separate case, Reynolds filed a brief in support of an earlier motion for the dismissal of one of the wrongful death suits filed against Boykin.
Reynolds filed a motion in February questioning Ricky Martin’s paternity of Ball. Martin, claiming to be Ball’s father, filed a wrongful death suit against Boykin in October 2016.
The Lowndes County Chancery Court held an heirship proceeding on March 20 to determine who qualifies as wrongful death heirs for Ball. Another wrongful death suit, filed in September 2016 by Tennessee attorney Paul N. Royal on behalf of the Ball estate, is also pending in federal court.
In the hearing, it was determined that only Ball’s minor daughter is the sole heir at law for Ball as a wrongful death beneficiary.
“The Chancery Court found that …a minor child of Ricky Javentia Ball, is Ricky Ball’s sole heir at law,” Reynolds wrote. “Mr. Martin was represented by counsel at the hearing. Mr. Martin failed to sustain his burden of proof that he is an heir-at-law of Ricky Javentia Ball. Accordingly, this court should enter an order dismissing this lawsuit.”
Jeffrey Navarro, an Amory attorney representing Martin, could not be reached for comment.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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