Appeals Court Rules for Grant County in Fatal Jail Overdose Lawsuit

The Washington Court of Appeals on Thursday directed a trial court to enter judgment in favor of Grant County in a lawsuit over a man’s fatal jail overdose, ruling that his felony possession of heroin barred the claims under the state law that applied when he died.

The published October 8 decision reverses a lower court’s refusal to dismiss the claims brought by Derek Batton’s parents and estate.

Division III held that a 2021 change to Washington’s felony-defense statute did not apply to his 2018 death.

The ruling turns on that statutory defense, not a finding that jail employees acted properly. The court said the county’s alleged negligence may have contributed to Batton’s death, but the governing law still provided a complete defense.

According to the opinion, Batton was booked into the Grant County Jail on August 10, 2018. Another inmate, Jordan Tebow, was booked the following day and placed in the same cell.

Tebow offered Batton heroin he had smuggled into the jail, the court wrote. Batton accepted it, ingested the drug and was found dead in his cell on August 12. His listed cause of death was acute morphine intoxication, likely from heroin.

Batton’s parents, Barbara Anderson and Rod Batton, and his estate sued the county. They alleged jail staff failed to adequately search Tebow, detect heroin in the cell through supervision or video surveillance, and discover and respond to Batton’s overdose in time to prevent his death.

The county sought dismissal under the version of RCW 4.24.420 in effect when Batton died.

That law provided a complete defense to personal-injury and wrongful-death claims when the injured or deceased person was committing a felony at the time of the event causing the injury or death, and the felony was a proximate cause of the harm.

A central dispute was which event mattered under that law.

The estate argued that the relevant event was the county’s alleged failure to adequately search Tebow when he entered the jail.

The appeals court instead identified Batton’s possession and ingestion of heroin as the event directly producing his death.

Writing for the court, Acting Chief Judge John Cooney said the statutory language referred to the event that directly caused the injury or death, rather than earlier events in the chain of causes.

The opinion said it was undisputed that Batton’s possession of heroin in jail was a felony under RCW 9.94.041(2).

The estate also argued that this interpretation could shield correctional officers who intentionally or negligently allowed dangerous items into jails.

The court acknowledged that concern but concluded that the former statute did not allow it to weigh the county’s alleged fault once the requirements for the defense were met.

Lawmakers amended the felony-defense statute in 2021. In actions arising from law enforcement activities resulting in injury or death, the revised law requires the fact finder to determine beyond a reasonable doubt that the injured or deceased person was committing a felony at the time of the event causing the harm and that the felony was a proximate cause. The estate argued that the revised law should govern this case.

The court rejected that argument. Early versions of the legislation expressly said the changes would apply retroactively, but lawmakers removed that language before passage.

The court concluded that the deletion showed the changes were intended to apply prospectively.

The case had already been through an earlier round of appellate review. In 2023, the Court of Appeals ruled that the county could not assert the felony defense or a separate statutory comparative-fault defense.

The Washington Supreme Court reversed that decision in 2026 and returned the case for consideration of the remaining questions about the felony-defense statute.

Thursday’s ruling resolves those questions in the county’s favor and sends the case back to the trial court with instructions to enter judgment for Grant County.