SHIELDS OF SHAME | CLAYTON COUNTY JAIL | FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS CASE

Samuel Salisbury v. Victor Hill: Raymon Winn Beating Allegations, Retaliation Claims and Federal Dismissal

Inside a federal civil-rights lawsuit alleging excessive force by former Clayton County jailer Raymon Sherod Winn, retaliation after an attorney visit, and supervisory failures at the Clayton County Jail.

Salisbury v. Hill et al

By Shields of Shame

By early 2020, complaints about violence inside the Clayton County Jail were beginning to pile up. Federal investigators would later indict Sheriff Victor Hill over the infamous restraint-chair cases, but according to yet another federal lawsuit, those incidents were only part of a much larger culture of alleged abuse.

The lawsuit filed by Samuel Alan Salisbury paints a picture of a jail where inmates allegedly expected violence from members of the Sheriff’s Office’s Scorpion Response Team (SRT)—a specialized jail unit responsible for security and daily inmate operations. At the center of Salisbury’s allegations is Jailer Raymon Sherod Winn, who had already been accused in another federal lawsuit of beating inmate Jyqwavous Whitaker just months earlier.

The Incident

According to the complaint, the events unfolded on February 27, 2020, inside the Clayton County Jail.

Salisbury says he was simply standing in line waiting to receive contact solution and medication when Winn and other members of the Scorpion Response Team entered the housing unit.

Without warning or provocation, Salisbury alleges Winn violently shoved him to the floor and began punching him while he lay defenseless. The complaint further alleges Winn kicked him repeatedly and, after Salisbury lost a shoe during the attack, picked up the shoe and struck him in the face with it.

The lawsuit states Salisbury had not threatened anyone, had not violated jail rules, and offered no resistance before force was used.

An Odd Twist

One of the more unusual allegations comes immediately after the alleged assault.

According to the complaint, Salisbury was not immediately disciplined, even though jail policy ordinarily required disciplinary action if an inmate violated rules.

Instead, he was simply allowed to return to his housing unit.

The lawsuit alleges everything changed after Salisbury contacted his sister, who in turn contacted an attorney. Counsel visited Salisbury the very next day. Only hours after that meeting, Salisbury was allegedly served with disciplinary charges accusing him of using profanity, disruptive conduct, and throwing medication at a nurse.

The complaint claims those disciplinary charges were fabricated in retaliation for reporting the alleged assault.

Twenty-Eight Days in Segregation

Following the disciplinary charges, Salisbury alleges he was placed in disciplinary segregation for 28 days, where he remained until March 27, 2020.

According to the lawsuit, this punishment was not based on legitimate jail discipline but instead was retaliation for reporting misconduct to someone outside the jail.

More Than One Officer

Although Winn is accused of carrying out the assault, Salisbury’s lawsuit reaches much higher.

The complaint names:

• Former Sheriff Victor Hill
• Chief Deputy Ronald Boehrer
• Jail Administrator Terrance Gibson
• Sgt. L. Lyons Jr.
• Lt. J. Jackson
• Jailer Raymon Winn

The lawsuit alleges supervisors knew of repeated excessive-force incidents, failed to train and discipline employees, and allowed unconstitutional practices to become routine inside the jail.

“Hands-On” Jail

Perhaps the most striking allegation in the complaint is the claim that violence had become part of the jail’s culture.

Salisbury alleges employees and inmates routinely referred to the Clayton County Jail as a “hands-on” facility, meaning officers were known for using physical force against inmates.

The lawsuit also alleges command staff described the jail as “paramilitary” and claims supervisors were aware of repeated reports of inmate abuse long before Salisbury’s alleged assault.

These are allegations made by the plaintiff and were contested by the defendants.

Connecting the Dots

The complaint also links Salisbury’s allegations to other well-known incidents.

Among the events cited are:

• Sheriff Victor Hill’s federally prosecuted restraint-chair cases.
• The alleged assault of inmate Jyqwavous Whitaker by Raymon Winn in September 2019.
• Other alleged uses of force by members of the Scorpion Response Team during 2019 and early 2020.

By doing so, Salisbury attempts to show his alleged beating was not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern.

The Defendants Push Back

The defendants denied virtually every substantive allegation.

In their answer, Winn and Chief Deputy Boehrer admitted they were acting under color of state law as employees of the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office but denied assaulting Salisbury, denied any constitutional violations, and asserted numerous legal defenses, including immunity. They also argued several constitutional claims had already been dismissed by prior court order.

Discovery Put on Hold

As the lawsuit progressed, the defendants asked the court to halt discovery while their motion to dismiss was pending.

They argued that because they had asserted qualified immunity, sovereign immunity, official immunity, and Eleventh Amendment immunity, discovery should not proceed until the court decided whether the case could continue. The court granted the request and temporarily stayed discovery.

A Renewal Action

Interestingly, this lawsuit was not the first version of Salisbury’s case.

The complaint states it was filed as a renewal action under Georgia’s renewal statute after an earlier federal case (No. 1:21-cv-02652). Georgia law sometimes allows plaintiffs to voluntarily dismiss and refile certain actions within a specified time period without losing their claims.

How the Case Ended

The litigation did not proceed to trial.

On August 30, 2024, all parties signed a Stipulation of Dismissal With Prejudice, ending the lawsuit. The filing states that each party would bear its own costs and attorney’s fees. It does not disclose whether any settlement money was paid or whether any party admitted wrongdoing.

Separately, the court entered judgment dismissing defendants Terrance Gibson, Sgt. L. Lyons Jr., and Lt. J. Jackson without prejudice after adopting the magistrate judge’s recommendation.

Because the dismissal with prejudice was filed jointly by all parties under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), the claims asserted in this renewal action cannot be refiled.

Why This Case Matters

Viewed alone, Salisbury’s lawsuit is one inmate’s account of an alleged jailhouse assault.

Viewed alongside the Whitaker and Robert Lee Taylor lawsuits, however, it forms part of a series of civil rights cases alleging excessive force by Raymon Winn during the same period inside the Clayton County Jail.

Each case is based on separate allegations, and Winn denied liability in each. Nevertheless, the repeated appearance of similar allegations over a relatively short time frame raises questions about supervision, accountability, and whether warning signs inside the jail were recognized—or ignored—before federal investigators eventually turned their attention to the Sheriff’s Office.

Records Worth Requesting

This case leaves several unanswered questions that could be addressed through Georgia Open Records Act requests:

• The complete settlement agreement, if one exists separately from the dismissal.
• Any payment records showing whether public funds or insurance were used.
• Internal Affairs files related to the February 27, 2020 incident.
• Use-of-force reports involving Salisbury.
• Scorpion Response Team deployment logs for that date.
• Medical records and injury photographs referenced in the complaint.
• Surveillance video retention logs and any available footage.
• Emails discussing the incident or settlement.
• Disciplinary records for Raymon Winn and the supervising officials named in the lawsuit.

Obtaining those records could help determine not only how the lawsuit was resolved behind the scenes, but also whether the allegations prompted any internal changes within the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office.

Court docs