Judge Bellamy files lawsuit against hospital officials

A Brownsville municipal judge has filed a lawsuit against officials at the Rio Grande Valley mental health facilities where he was held throughout January and February on court orders.

Phil Bellamy, 46, filed the case Friday, less than two days after his release from a psychiatric center in Harlingen. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for "grievous emotional harm" caused by what he says was "false imprisonment" and a violation of his civil rights, according to court documents.

The lawsuit names as defendants more than 30 psychiatrists, nurses, administrators, CEOs and board members at Valley Baptist Health System, Rio Grande State Center and Doctors Hospital at Renaissance. It also lists as defendants Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos and other county attorneys and Amarak Corp. in Dallas, which provides professional and food services, facilities management and uniform apparel to health care institutions.

The defendants used the mental commitment procedure "as an instrument of oppression," Bellamy states in the lawsuit.

"Plaintiff was involuntarily, unconstitutionally and illegally incarcerated within the walls of what passes for a mental health care system, Deep South Texas style," the lawsuit reads. "By so confining plaintiff, and/or by allowing the same to occur, defendants caused plaintiff to suffer the equivalent of mental rape."

Valley Baptist declined comment on Bellamy’s allegations. But in a statement, spokeswoman Teri Retana said the health center was "always respectful of everyone’s right to express opinions."

"Valley Baptist Behavioral Health Services strives at all times to deliver the highest quality of care in an environment that is respectful of patient rights," the statement read.

Rio Grande State Center also chose not to speak on the lawsuit’s accusations, finding it "inappropriate to comment on pending litigation," according to a statement released by Carrie Williams, acting press officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services, which represents the Harlingen psychiatric facility.

Bellamy has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, according to court hearing testimony. He has fought confinement at mental health facilities and court-ordered treatment since his arrest in mid-January after a customer service dispute at Sam’s Club in Brownsville.

He was first committed to Valley Baptist Medical Center East Campus but was released about two weeks later when a Cameron County court-at-law judge found there was not enough evidence to suggest Bellamy could harm himself or others, according to court testimony.

But a few days later, Bellamy was transported to Rio Grande State Center in Harlingen after friends and family said he displayed erratic and suicidal behavior. In another hearing held at the mental health facility, Court-at-Law No. 3 Judge Menton Murray Jr. ordered Bellamy to stay and receive treatment. He was released Wednesday.

In court hearings, Bellamy was said to have threatened to sue hospital staff. Psychiatrists described his inability to perform his municipal court duties, refusal to take medications, "flight of ideas" and manic episodes of "grandiosity," in which he likened himself to fictional characters Spock and Spongebob.

But in impassioned responses, the municipal judge has defended his behavior, claiming Valley Baptist and other mental health centers have held him illegally and forced him and other patients to take medications they have a right to refuse.

"This (mental health care) system is like the Titanic hitting the proverbial iceberg, and guess who is on deck?" Bellamy writes in the lawsuit.

On the phone Monday he said his only comment on the lawsuit was this: "Payback is a (expletive), and I get to reform mental healthcare in the process."

Bellamy has practiced law for 17 years and has served as a municipal judge in Brownsville for eight. It is still unclear whether he will return to his municipal court duties, City Manager Charlie Cabler said. The city has not received any detailed information to evaluate his work status and Cabler did not know when officials would, he said.

"His return to work should not be the main concern. Our main concern is his health," Cabler said. "We will follow his progress with caution."