A former Arizona child welfare case manager and his 911 dispatcher wife, who are both serving prison sentences for felony child abuse, are awaiting word on whether a $16 million lawsuit filed against them, the State of Arizona, and other parties will be heard entirely in federal court, or if a state court judge will also be involved.
Brian Campbell worked for the Arizona Department of Child Services, while Monica Campbell was a longtime civilian employee of the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office. They agreed to severance of their parental rights and are each serving three-year prison terms after pleading guilty to multiple counts of felony child abuse.
In 2020, four adoptive children of the Campbells sued their former parents, the state, Cochise County, its sheriff Mark Dannels, and a sheriff’s deputy for allegedly knowing of various acts of abuse in the home but not taking action to protect the kids. The first documented report of abuse was made in 2012, according to court records.
The children’s 13-count lawsuit was originally filed in Cochise County Superior Court but was transferred to U.S. District Court in Tucson at the request of the Cochise County defendants. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has asked U.S. District Judge Scott Rash to dismiss the State from the case, and the Campbells are seeking to be dropped from the 11 counts which name them as defendants.
The parties have been waiting several months for Rash’s ruling on which parties must stand trial on which counts. But that question is on hold while the judge decides if it is appropriate for him to even address all 13 counts, as only one count involves claims under federal law, that being a 42 U.S. Code 1983 constitutional claim.
The other 12 counts stem from claims under Arizona law, including aggravated negligence, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, aiding and abetting tortious conduct, civil conspiracy, joint venture, vicarious liability and respondeat superior, negligent hiring and retention, and libel.
A brief filed by the children’s attorneys argues their state-law claims raise both novel and complex issues more appropriate to be decided in state court. It is a viewpoint shared by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which is representing the state on the 10 counts it is named as a defendant.
The state is not a defendant in the lone § 1983 federal claim.
However, the Cochise County defendants argue it is appropriate and preferable for Rash to keep the lawsuit in federal court. A similar position has been taken by attorneys for Brian and Monica Campbell, who are named individual defendants and alleged to have undertaken some acts in their official capacities.
“Because all of Plaintiffs’ claims arise from the same nucleus of operative facts, their federal civil rights claim confers supplemental jurisdiction over their claims sounding in state law,” attorneys for the former parents argue. “As such, it is most efficient manner to try all claims in the present forum.”
If the state claims are remanded back to the superior court and the State of Arizona remains as a defendant, then the case will end up in front of Maricopa County jury instead of one in Cochise County. That is because state law requires any lawsuit against the State to be heard in Maricopa County “upon written demand of the attorney general.”
Such a request has already been filed, according to court records.
READ ABOUT THE CAMPBELL ABUSE CASE HERE