Opinion ID: 2733141
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Attack by Deondrea Lee

Text: On August 9, 2010, Deondrea Lee was assigned to Spires’s cell. Their pairing was not peaceful. Lee started by threatening to commit violence against Spires if he ate pork.1 Spires complained to an unknown corrections officer, “Hall” about Lee. In the presence of Officer Hall, Lee threatened to rape and kill Spires. He submitted several “witness statement” forms to GSP officials, 2 complaining of the danger to him from Lee. On August 12, Lee punched Spires in the face and, later that night, digitally raped Spires. Spires never reported the attacks. An unknown number of days after the August 12 incident, Spires complained to Brewton that “[he] was having problems with [Lee] and . . . wanted to be moved.” ROA at 662. On August 17, Spires submitted a new witness statement form, this time to Brewton. In the form, Spires stated: “I am in fear for my life from Deondre[a] Lee my roommate . . . . I have been threatened w[ith] bodily harm . . . but no one is helping me.” ROA at 713. Brewton forwarded the witness statement to GSP’s classification committee, which handles placement of prisoners. One day later, Spires was removed from the cell. 1 Lee, a Muslim, objected to Spires’s consumption of pork during Ramadan. 2 A “witness statement” is a form used by inmates seeking protection. 3 Case: 12-16364 Date Filed: 09/16/2014 Page: 4 of 17 On October 18, two months later, Spires was assigned by the classification committee to be housed in Building E-4. Lee previously had been assigned to the same building. The same day that Spires arrived in Building E-4, Lee assaulted him. He suffered trauma to his head and a broken finger. Afterwards, Williams and Brewton spoke with Spires about the attack.