A Montgomery attorney representing Amerson and Ward filed the unopposed motion on Thursday asking for a week-long extension to answer the federal lawsuit.
The suit originally ordered Amerson and Ward to submit their answers by today.
Late attempts Thursday to reach Amerson and Mallory Combest, the attorney for the sheriff and Ward, were unsuccessful.
The motion filed by Combest states that Amerson and Ward require additional time to answer the lawsuit because they need more time to meet with their attorney during a meeting scheduled for today.
Anniston resident Stacy Brown filed suit against Amerson and Ward on April 5, alleging deputies and jail officers verbally and physically threatened her 14-year-old son in the hours before Sheriff Larry Amerson used manual force on him while the boy was shackled and handcuffed.
The suit stems from the day that Brown’s son spent at the jail on Feb. 4 as part of a program for teenagers who’ve been suspended from school or others who’ve committed minor crimes and are under the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts.
A video obtained from a source requesting anonymity and published by The Star in late March shows part of the encounter between the boy and Amerson that day.
The video shows Amerson grabbing and holding down a boy dressed in an orange-striped jumpsuit. The boy, whom the suit identifies as J.B., is shackled and has his hands cuffed behind his back during the incident.
Brown is seeking $500,000 each in compensatory damages for what the suit calls violations of her son’s civil rights, as well as $500,000 each in punitive damages against Amerson and Ward.
The lawsuit says Ward and the other officers used racial slurs to address J.B. and threatened violence.
The Thursday motion filed on behalf of Amerson and Ward noted that lawyers representing J.B. were unopposed to the defendants’ extension request.
