Are the Civil Rights of the Accused About to be Lost?

Let me preface this opinion article by saying that I have seen the effects of bullying on their victims and have no sympathy of the true bullies of the world, whether they're out shaking down small kids for their lunch money or using the state's lawful authority for the ends of injustice on victimized citizens.  Similarly, I have known people that have taken their own life due to being bullied and believe the persecutors deserve some form of punishment for their actions. 

But even in those personal situations, I would hardly advocate what has happened in Missouri involving a Dairy Queen (DQ) manager named Harley Branham and an otherwise non-exceptional employee serving under her named Kenneth Suttner, who took his life in December, allegedly because of the torment Harley put him through.  She has been indicted with involuntary manslaughter after a jury ruled the December suicide of the 17 year old employee was the result of constant bullying at his bosses’ hands.

 

             The Missouri Dairy Queen where Kenneth Suttner worked and endured the torment of manager, Harley Branham.

The charges come after the Howard County Coroner launched an inquest into the death of Suttner who died after shooting himself in the head.  Leading into the inquest, a felony complaint alleged Harley Branham harassed the 17-year-old employee between September and Dec. 21, when he fatally shot himself outside his family’s home.

According to the Columbia Daily Tribune , the inquest found the employee’s suicide death was attributable to the constant bullying Suttner experienced both at school and at work. In turn the tribunal recommended that Branham, 21, be indicted for felony involuntary manslaughter.  The coroner’s recommendation came after six hours and 20 testimonies where witnesses described the widespread bullying at the Glasgow School District and his place of work.

                                                            Harley Branham answers questions at the coroner's inquest

Former co-workers said Manager Branham often ridiculed the teen and made him do tasks she wouldn’t request anyone else do, including cleaning the floors by hand while lying on his stomach. One fellow employee said the 21-year-old manager once threw a burger at Suttner because he made it incorrectly.

During testimony, Branham said that any comments she made about Suttner were ‘well-intentioned jokes’, while adding that her actions weren’t intended to demean or demoralize the boy.  ‘There’s a lot of people at Dairy Queen saying I was the reason he killed himself,’ Branham said, ‘but I don’t understand why it would be that way.’.  Branham, who later was fired from the ice cream shop for unrelated reasons — admitted calling Suttner an ‘a–hole’ at least once, but claimed it was intended in a playful manner.

Officers arrested the Dairy Queen manager after the jury announced their verdict. If she’s convicted on the felony charge she could face up to seven years in prison and a fine of $5,500 for her actions leading to the death of Kenneth Suttner (pictured below).


The jury also found the fast food chain was negligent in its training of its employees about harassment while Suttner’s school district was found negligent for it’s lack of bullying prevention.   According to the employees, one manager in particular seemed to single Suttner out to make his life difficult, cursing at him, threatening and demeaning him.  Employees stated they had reported this behavior to other managers and supervisors, but that nothing seemed to result.  Fayette Dairy Queen franchise owner, Ryan Reid, appeared at the end of the day and after explaining the staff hierarchy, stated that he had not been made aware of any harassment or other issues.

When teachers and administration from the Glasgow School system testified, they were asked about bullying policies, procedures and documentation.  According to administration, documentation is made when a complaint is received and kept on file permanently.  It was noted by administration that there was no documentation of bullying found in Kenneth’s record. 

The Glasgow Superintendent does not deny there is bullying in Glasgow schools, but does not believe it is a systemic problem.   Multiple individuals from Glasgow School District were served a subpoena for participation with the inquest.  One individual, upon being served, stated that it was “a crock…”

 

Allison Bennett, who worked with Suttner at the Dairy Queen, said Suttner was frequently harassed at work, often to the point that he would go outside and cry.

Lexie Graves, one of Suttner’s best friends, said Kenneth was picked on no matter where he was in the school building.

‘A lot of people, kids, made fun of the way — basically everything about him,” including his weight, speech impediment and the way he walked and acted,’ Graves said.

She did report it once, but gave up after nothing happened. Parents agreed, noting the school does little once bullying is reported.

Howard County Coroner Frank Flaspohler said it’s the fifth time he’s called an inquest during his 24 years on the job — he did it because he believes bullying is public safety problem.

‘If we don’t take care of bullying, we’re going to have a lot more of these,’ he said.

On Wednesday, February 1st,  at 4:20 p.m., Harley Branham was charged with second-degree involuntary manslaughter.  The jury gave the verdict that Kenneth “came to his death by felony involuntary manslaughter, due to harassment.”  They determined that Kenneth experienced harassment at work and at school. 

While Harley Branham, the manager at Dairy Queen was named as the principal cause of death, Dairy Queen and Glasgow Schools were also deemed negligent.  Dairy Queen was found negligent in training employees in harassment prevention and resolution, and Glasgow Schools were negligent in preventing bullying.  All of which contributed to Kenneth choosing to take his life.  Branham was in custody at the Howard County Jail by the time the courtroom had cleared.

[see more here and here]

   The Howard County Prosecutor shows a picture of the deceased while arguing why his boss needs to be held to account for his death

The death of Kenneth Suttner by his own hands is a tragedy.  One can see that he may not have been properly protected by the school or his place of work from bullying by his peers.  The school and the DQ didn't record any reports of bullying regarding Kenneth that were supposedly made by his peers, and so they may be civilly liable as may those whose bullying led to him taking his life.  If his survivors believe they have a case they're free to conduct a lawsuit.

But the felonious criminal involuntary manslaughter charge against Harley Branham seems a bit of a legal stretch.  Involuntary manslaughter usually refers to an unintentional killing that results from recklessness or criminal negligence, or from an unlawful act that is a misdemeanor or low-level felony.  Is throwing an improperly made burger, swearing at, or having an employee clean the workplace by getting on the floor a threshold into charging somebody when the object of ridicule kills himself with a handgun many days or weeks later? 

For certainly, if DQ Manager Harley Branham was such a bully to Suttner wouldn't she have a record of such acts in her time at DQ and at the local school of such behavior when she went there?  And if Suttner had multiple students report of bullying to Suttner occurring at the school, why did the inquest not determine that Suttner's last act was derivative of that bullying?  Sadly, we cannot ask him what made him point a gun at himself and pull the trigger, but there is no adequate reason that came forth from this tribunal that makes me see it as a direct result of Branham's alleged harassment. 

But even if it were, would it be a reasonable action to charge her with a felony that could put her behind bars for longer than some intentional murderers go to jail for?  Suttner apparently never told others why he was going to pull the trigger, and he assuredly cannot testify at Branham's trial as to why he did that last act of desperation.  If this does lead to a successful prosecution based on what was developed at the inquest, the ramifications could go well beyond Missouri into who gets criminally charged when somebody commits suicide. 

Does your wife badger you incessantly?  Pay her back and publish that she and your mother-in-law (for good measure) drove you to suicide.  Not happy with Donald Trump as president, then say his acts propelled  you to your doom and have fun looking at him getting prosecuted all because of you.  As if.

And what about all those times police officers play the bully by engaging citizens who are not otherwise breaking any laws and try to tell them they are doing something wrong.  Local officers have did this quite often such as with Joe McAdam, Shelly Burns, Travis Malone, Kimberly Septrion, and Martin Schilling.  In each of these cases, and several others, like kayak guy Alan Ross , Mason county peace officers failed to do their duty and resorted to be nothing more than bullies, their needless escalations and brutality leading to the physical injuries and/or civil suits we all paid dearly for. 

The same public officials who worked long and hard trying to get an allegedly overbearing former DQ manager for felony involuntary manslaughter, surely didn't envision their use of such power in an over-reaching prosecution as bullying Harley Branham, but isn't it?  What happens if Ms. Branham feels so overwhelmed by the possible injustice being meted out to her in this modern day witch hunt that she decides to take her own life?  Who goes to jail then? 

This is an illogical result, a violation of Harley Branham's Sixth Amendment rights, and should get thrown out before it sees trial.  Perhaps it gives the prosecutor a pedestal to show she's against bullies, and paints herself in a good light to more of the constituents of the county, i.e. voters.  But when all is properly evaluated, it's not good for the cause of civil rights or justice. 

Please share your own thoughts on this topic.

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I feel sorry for the kid but charging the manager with murder makes no sense. She may be a bully but she definitely is not a murderer. Unfortunately this poor kid was a door mat that everyone seemed to enjoy wiping their feet on. We all have known such people. They are shy and reserved introverts. What the boy needed was to have someone interested in him enough to direct him to pursue interests that would have helped his self confidence. Another sad story but that's life.

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