TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Mar 24, 2023

Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Mary Wagner has dismissed Alicia Franklin's lawsuit against the city of Memphis. The suit claimed the police department could have prevented the kidnapping and killing of Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher if it had adequately investigated Franklin's rape allegation a year earlier. Wagner relied on the state’s “Public Duty Doctrine,” which protects government employees from being sued for their actions or inactions, the Commercial Appeal reports. Franklin alleges that she was raped by Cleotha Henderson (also known as Abston) in September 2021. Her rape kit was tested a year later only after Henderson’s DNA was identified in connection with Fletcher’s death. Days after he was arrested in the Fletcher case, Henderson was indicted for abducting and raping Franklin.