A legally blind U.S. Navy veteran who was jailed overnight last year after cops mistook his mobility cane for a handgun, is now suing the two officers who locked him up—one of whom was demoted over the incident—for violating his civil rights.
“I can function to where people are like, ‘Man, you’re lying, you ain’t disabled,’” James Hodges told The Daily Beast. “I’ve had a lot of practice, and a lot of fighting in rehab, so I do my orientation in mobility a lot better than a lot of people think I ought to be able to.”
Authorities offered Hodges a payout of $7,500 “to sweep it all under the rug,” he alleged, calling the arrest—which made national news last year— “bogus.” “It was insane from its conception,” he added.
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Hodges, 62, was walking home from jury duty at the Lake City, Florida, courthouse on Oct. 31, 2022, when he was stopped by Columbia County Deputy Jayme Gohde, according to a federal complaint filed Nov. 20. Gohde told Hodges that it “looked like he was carrying a firearm in his back pocket,” which the complaint says “was clearly visible and at first glance is immediately recognizable as a navigational aide [sic].”
Hodges immediately removed the folded cane to show Gohde that the “gun” was nothing of the sort, and asked, “What’s the problem, are you a tyrant?” according to the complaint, which says Gohde responded, “Yeah, I am, actually. What is your name and date of birth?”
From there, things quickly went downhill. Instead of admitting her mistake, Gohde detained Hodges and called for a supervisor, the complaint states. When Sgt. Randall Harrison arrived, Hodges showed him his cane, “thus demonstrating for a second time that he was not armed,” the complaint goes on. But when Hodges asked to leave, the pair instead put him in handcuffs and searched him, it says.
Shaken and upset by what was happening, Hodges demanded Gohde and Harrison’s badge numbers, according to the complaint. Instead, it states, Harrison turned to Gohde and said, “You know what? Put him in jail for resisting.” Gohde then placed Hodges in the back of her patrol car and drove him to the Columbia County Jail “where he was booked and charged with resisting without violence,” the complaint continues. He remained in a cell for more than 24 hours, all because of what the two officers “perceived to be a disrespectful attitude,” according to the complaint.
Gohde’s arrest report accused Hodges of “obstructing [an ongoing investigation when he repeatedly refused to allow identification of the object in his pocket as well as refusing to identify himself.” However, bodycam footage supported Hodge’s side of the story, not Gohde’s, the complaint states.
“Gohde and Harrison knew Hodges had not committed a crime and that Hodges was in no way resisting arrest; both of which are confirmed via the body camera footage,” the complaint argues, describing their actions as “a malicious, ill-willed desire to punish him.”
“From the onset, Gohde and Harrison were made aware of Hodges’ disability,” according to the complaint. “... Harrison asked Hodges if he was legally blind and then proceeded to further question him as to why he was not using the device when he was stopped by Gohde. The [Americans with Disabilities Act] prohibits inquiries regarding the nature or severity of one’s disability.”
The encounter was subsequently referred to internal affairs, and Sheriff Mark Hunter released a statement saying he was “troubled” by what he had seen in the bodycam video. Following an investigation, Harrison was demoted from sergeant to corporal and was suspended for seven days, the complaint states. Gohde, for her part, was placed on administrative leave, with pay, and suspended for two days, it says. Both were ordered to attend training classes “specifically tailored to the handling of civil rights matters,” according to the complaint.
Still, Hodges’ lawsuit says the episode was a “result of a policy, practice, custom and deliberate indifference” by Hunter, who is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
On Monday, Hodges told The Daily Beast he has been blind since 1995, thanks to “a random act of violence on the streets of Baltimore.”
“Baltimore, at the time that I was there, was a hard place to live,” he said. “And I come out the door to run a drunk off my porch, wound up fighting five guys, and ended up with a traumatic brain injury.”
Hodges said he didn’t realize the severity of his injuries until three days after the stitches in his face were removed, when he went to the hospital complaining of a headache. The next thing he remembers is waking up a month-and-a-half after that in a different facility, “totally blind.”
“I had been in a coma for a while, and a week later I regained the lower corner piece of pie in my central field of view,” Hodges recalled. “Since I’ve been down here in Florida, now I have glaucoma in my right eye. So I only see out of the bottom part of my left eye.”
Much of the damage to his optic nerve came from a post-surgical neurological disorder, which occurred when “they had to bore two holes into my skull and suck out some blood clots,” Hodges said, noting that he suffers from regular seizures.
Nevertheless, Hodges has become confident in his regular surroundings, and is able to get around—and even hunt—on his own.
“I had it all down, but after this incident, the stress, not having my medications, my blood pressure went up real, real, high and I started having neurological issues again,” he said. “When I bring a fork up to my mouth, the closer I get to my face, the faster my hand shakes.”
Hodges admits that he hasn’t “always been an angel.” He was administratively discharged from the Navy—fired, essentially—which means he doesn’t qualify for any veterans’ services.
“I’m sure I’ve got my detractors, and people who think, ‘He don’t play well with others,” Hodges said. “I can understand.”
At the same time, Hodges has “done some things that I’m very, very proud of,” he said. “This [lawsuit] is one of them.”
A GoFundMe campaign started by Hodges’ lawyer last November raised $2,250 of its $25,000 goal. Another, which generated nearly $34,000 of its $35,000 goal, was launched “by a complete stranger who saw the story,” said Hodges, who lives in a rented mobile home.
He is eager to start a national conversation about qualified immunity, which protects police officers from criminal consequences over line-of-duty actions.
“Those deputies should have been prosecuted,” Hodges said. “They broke the law. Instead, the sheriff said, ‘I’m deeply saddened.’ And that’s about all.”
In an email, Columbia County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Steven Khachigian told The Daily Beast, “We would not offer further comment on matters of pending litigation.”
Hodges is asking for damages to be determined by a jury. A trial date has not yet been set.
