I was so proud to nominate my client, Jerrod Heath, for the GTLA 2025 Courageous Pursuit of Justice Award and so overjoyed when it was announced he had won! Out of the many deserving people who courageously pursue Justice on behalf of their loved ones here in Georgia, it was an honor of a lifetime for Jerrod (rightfully) to receive this award. Here is a little bit more about this award:
GTLA COURAGEOUS PURSUIT OF JUSTICE AWARD (aka Nestlehutt Award)
GTLA presents this award to the client of a GTLA member during the Annual Convention each year. Our goal is to recognize a client whose pursuit of justice helped the greater good. It’s not about the size of the verdict, or even a victory. It’s about courage the client showed against great odds and powerful opponents.
I share with you now my nomination of Jerrod and will, in a separate post, share with you Jerrod’s moving, emotional acceptance remarks that he delivered to a packed room of 400 people at the GTLA Annual Convention at the Intercontinental Buckhead Hotel.
TO: GTLA Officers and Executive Committee
RE: GTLA Courageous Pursuit of Justice Award Nomination
Jerrod Heath, brother of Christopher Darnell Heath
Jerrod Antonio Heath, as Administrator of the Estate of Christopher
Darnell Heath, Deceased, et al. vs. MHM Correctional Services, LLC, et al.
State Court of Tattnall County, Georgia
STSV022000028
Date of Death: 12/11/2020
Dear GTLA Officers and Executive Committee Members:
I write to nominate my client, Jerrod Heath, brother of Christopher Darnell Heath, Deceased, for the 2025 GTLA Courageous Pursuit of Justice Award. Jerrod Heath has courageously fought for his brother’s memory against the Georgia Department of Corrections and its mental health contractor, MHM Health and its medical staff. This fight was against a corrupt warden who has since been indicted for running a contraband operation out of the prison and it was against corrupt correctional officers who lied and falsified records as part of their attempted cover-up of Christopher’s preventable death.
Christopher Heath
On December 9, 2020, Christopher Heath suffered an abrupt change in mental status and an emergent mental break with reality while incarcerated in Smith State Prison in Glennville, Tattnall County, Georgia. Correctional officers escorted him to the medical unit where he received essentially no medical care and was presumed to be on methamphetamine. A urine screen would later reveal the absence of any drugs in his system. While still in the middle of this mental health crisis, the medical staff discharged him with instructions not to “abuse meth.” He was taken back to his cell where he continued with abnormal outbursts and yelling, to the point that his cellmate called for help. Rather than take him back to the medical unit, correctional officers dragged Christopher down a walkway by the collar of his shirt and locked him in a shower cell. We have prison video showing this. They left Christopher there in a small shower stall without food, without water, without a toilet to relieve himself, without outside air, without heat, without a bed or a blanket and without any medical treatment in the freezing cold of the prison while in the middle of a mental health crisis. They left Christopher in this shower stall for 3 days. On day 3, the officers found Christopher hanging from a clothing hook on the shower wall.
The Shower Stall
During those three days, the warden saw Christopher in the shower stall on his daily rounds, as did his staff and all of the correctional officers. The officers illegally falsified their daily cell counts, falsely indicating that Christopher was present in his cell every day. Several GDOC employees heard Christopher begging for help, begging for his life. The Chief Counselor of the prison saw Christopher in the shower stall on Day #2 and noted in an email to the Warden and medical staff that she saw him essentially unresponsive, appearing to be having convulsions and wondered whether the medial and/or mental health staff should “do something.” Rather than “doing something,” the mental health counselor told the counselor to ignore Christopher because he was just high on meth, without ever checking the results of his drug screen.
Jerrod Heath suspected something was wrong during these three days as he talked to his brother or emailed him every day, but hadn’t heard from him. Jerrod called the Smith State Office numerous times during Christopher’s illegal imprisonment in the shower stall, asking to speak to him, but no one helped. When the prison informed Jerrod of his brother’s death, they said it was due to illegal meth abuse. But Jerrod knew his brother did not take drugs, so he grew suspicious and hired a private forensic physician to do a private autopsy. A clean drug screen showed Christopher had not ingested any drugs and so Jerrod began his quest for Justice for Christopher and hired me. We then began the onerous process of discovering the cover up of Christopher’s death and bringing to light the inhumane treatment they had subjected Christopher to, that lead, predictably, to his death by suicide.
During the litigation, a journalist from the Atlanta Journal & Constitution reached out to me because the AJC was investigating the crime ring YSL that was based in Smith State Prison at that time. The AJC mentioned one correctional officer’s name, who had not appeared in any of the prison’s daily documents, even though she was present every day Christopher was held in the shower and even complained about the inhumane treatment of Christopher. Her name was Julia Roberts, who was responsible for mail delivery in the prison, and who saw Christopher in the shower stall, and heard him begging for his life. She tried to get the warden and other officers to remove him but they wouldn’t. The warden and others became aware that CO Roberts had discovered the contraband ring operating out of Smith State because she would see contraband coming through the prison’s mail system. She intended to report the crime ring and the details surrounding Christopher’s death when one day, as she was delivering mail, an inmate threw a jar of acid on her, severely burning much of her body. She was treated in the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia and never could return to her job. She suffers, understandably, from post-traumatic stress disorder. She agreed to give us her deposition, but only in her home in Tattnall County, as she was fearful of leaving it. She had kept notes secretly about what she saw in Smith State Prison, including Christopher’s death, and provided us copies of them once we were in her home.
Julia Roberts’ secret logbook
Admittedly, I was scared when I went to her home to take her deposition, and spent the previous night in Statesboro, only driving to Tattnall County the next morning for a limited time. The YSL Gang in Smith State Prison learned of potential exposure of their crime ring by a prison vendor, who lived in Glennville. The gang put a hit out on him. A former inmate, assisted by a correctional officer, went to this vendor’s house to kill him. The shooter, however, went to the wrong street address and entered that house, the house next door to the vendor’s house, and shot a man in his sleep, thinking it was the vendor who was going to expose them. It turned out to be a completely innocent and uninvolved resident of Glennville, Bobby Kicklighter. It was during this time that the GBI investigated the ongoing corruption in Smith State and indicted the Warden, Brian Adams, for numerous felonies.
Had Jerrod Heath not insisted on discovering the truth of how Christopher died and had he not insisted in fighting for Justice for his brother, Christopher’s death would have been just another prison death, just another inmate taking illegal drugs like meth that are brought into the prison, often by the very prison officers who have sworn an oath to protect the inmates. Instead, Jerrod exposed the corruption of Smith State, exposed the attempted cover-up of Christopher’s death by the Smith State Prison officials, and made the statement that Christopher Heath’s life mattered. Christopher’s case was one of several that led to the admission by the GDOC of understaffing of several Georgia prisons. Jerrod’s perseverance has ensured that Christopher’s four children have financial support to live their lives and honor the father’s memory.
I cannot imagine a more courageous pursuit of Justice than Jerrod Heath’s for his brother, Christopher. I proudly nominate Jerrod Heath for the GTLA 2025 Courageous Pursuit of Justice Award.
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats,
Robin Frazer Clark
Robin Frazer Clark is a trial lawyer who pursues justice for those who have personal injury claims as a result of being injured in motor vehicle wrecks, trucking wrecks, defective products, defective maintenance of roads, premises safety, medical malpractice and other incidents caused by the negligence of others. Ms. Clark was the 50th President of the State Bar of Georgia, a Past President of Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, a Past President of the Lawyers Club of Atlanta and has practiced law in Georgia for 38 years. She is a Board Member of the International Society of Barristers, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Ms. Clark is listed as one of the Top 50 Women Trial Lawyers in Georgia and is a Georgia Super Lawyer. Ms. Clark is the co-host of the podcast “See You In Court.”
Robin Frazer Clark ~ Dedicated to the Constitution’s Promise of Justice for All.