State, public administrator file claims to dismiss DeBrodie suit

Carl DeBrodie
Carl DeBrodie

The Missouri Attorney General's Office wants a judge to dismiss claims against state employees named in the Carl DeBrodie wrongful death lawsuit.

The motion to dismiss was filed Tuesday. A lawyer for the Callaway County Public Administrator Karen Digh Allen and her office also filed a motion to dismiss Wednesday. These motions, filed in response to the amended version of the lawsuit, are similar to previous motions to dismiss filed on those defendants' behalf.

Assistant Attorney General Michael Pritchett states that DeBrodie was not under state custody, meaning defendants from the Missouri Department of Mental Health should not be liable in this case. Pritchett also states that the state agency defendants have qualified immunity.

"Even if true, Plaintiffs' allegations are not adequate to establish that the State Defendants have violated Mr. DeBrodie's constitutional rights because they do not show a causal connection between their alleged conduct and Mr. DeBrodie's death and, even if such a connection were shown, the alleged conduct is not egregious, outrageous or shocking to the conscience," Pritchett stated in the motion.

He added that the state is alleged only to have licensed and certified the independent living facility Second Chance Homes of Fulton, where DeBrodie lived prior to his death, and have contracted with it for DeBrodie's care.

The motion filed by the public administrator's office's lawyers also states Allen is entitled to qualified immunity and is not liable for negligent conduct.

The civil suit was filed on behalf on DeBrodie's mother in late January. DeBrodie's body was found, severely decomposed, in a storage unit in April 2017. The suit alleges that while under the care of Second Chance Homes of Fulton, DeBrodie, then 31, was deprived of adequate medical care and was forced to fight with another resident. It names as defendants many of those in the hierarchy of responsibility for DeBrodie's care.