OAG seeks stay of all proceedings in Christian lawsuit vs CHCC, NMI govt

The Office of the Attorney General is seeking to temporarily suspend all proceedings in the case filed by Kaye Christian, a woman with mental illness who alleged that she was involuntarily brought to the Rota Health Center and was forcefully injected with medication.

OAG Solicitor Division chief James Zarones and assistant attorney general David Lochabay asked the U.S. District Court for the NMI to stay all proceedings in Christian’s lawsuit until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decides on an appeal that is pending before it.

Zarones and Lochabay asserted that the interest of judicial economy dictate that this matter should be adjudicated at a single trial.

Zarones is counsel for the CNMI government, Rota Health Center’s Dr. Francois Claassens, and Rota police officer Eusebio Manglona. Lochabay is counsel for the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.

Christian was involuntarily committed at the Commonwealth Health Center on Dec. 31, 2013. She was released from the psychiatric ward on Jan. 3, 2014, according to court documents.

Attorneys Jeanne H. Rayphand and Matthew Holley are representing Christian in the case.

In her complaint, Christian is suing the CNMI government, Claassens, CHCC, and Manglona for violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution—unreasonable seizure, deprivation of liberty without due process of law; breach of settlement agreement (use of handcuffs at the Rota Health Center); breach of settlement agreement (failure to train); violation of the CNMI Constitution (unreasonable seizure); Involuntary Civil Commitment Act; Patient’s Rights Act—chemical restraint, right to ready access to telephone, right to receive copy of rights, and right to keep and use personal possession.

Christian is demanding $1.2 million in damages and a court order directing the CNMI and CHCC to educate and train all its employees of the requirements of the Involuntary Commitment Act and Patient’s Rights Act, among others.

In their motion to stay proceedings, Zarones and Lochabay cited two reasons of their motion. First, the benefits of sovereign immunity are effectively lost if the CNMI government is forced to answer discovery, produce documents, and hire experts to defend the litigation, they said. Second, it would be a waste of judicial resources and the defendants’ resources to go through discovery twice, hire experts twice, file dispositive motions twice, and duplicate any other hearings or actions.

In court papers, Claassens said that Christian was handcuffed when she was in the emergency room of the Rota Health Center, where he injected her with necessary medication.

Claassens, however, denied that the administration and injection of medication was unnecessary or excessive.

Christian alleged that Claassens chemically restrained her by administering and injecting her with unnecessary and excessive medications, including but not limited to Haldol, Prazapam, and Benedryl, all without her consent.