A federal judge agreed last week that Jefferson County, two sheriff's deputies and the operators of an assisted living facility may be held liable for the death of a man in crisis who

drowned in a nearby reservoir. On New Year's Day 2021, Graham Hebert twice wandered away from Berry House in Littleton, a supervised home for adults with brain injuries. The first time,

Jeffco deputies brought Hebert back after finding him outdoors in subfreezing temperatures wearing only underwear and slippers. The second time, Hebert walked onto an icy reservoir in Blue

Heron Park, only to fall through and drown. Michele Bourgeois, Hebert's mother, filed suit for the wrongful death of her son. The county, along with Rocky Mountain Care and Consulting —

individual to address Mr. Hebert’s crisis — despite the obvious signs of his mental distress," she wrote in a July 25 order. As for the two Jeffco deputies who returned Hebert after his

first disappearance, they allegedly "discouraged Mr. Hebert from seeking psychiatric treatment and, crucially, misrepresented the severity of his condition to a Berry House

employee," Sweeney added. According to Bourgeois' lawsuit, her son suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2009 and had "dementia-like symptoms." Rocky Mountain Care and

Consulting accepted him as a Berry House resident in July 2020. The company allegedly knew he had a history of hospitalizations stemming from psychiatric crises. On Dec. 31, 2020, Hebert was

reportedly in need of hospitalization, but Berry House did not secure an emergency evaluation. Instead, Hebert wandered away from Berry House the next morning wearing practically no clothes

in the freezing weather. Deputies Aaron Fosler and Jeffrey Pederson located Hebert at nearby Blue Heron Park and returned him to Berry House. Relying on body-worn camera footage, the

lawsuit alleged the deputies and the operators of Berry House knew Hebert was in crisis. "Based on the facts, Defendants had a legal basis to involuntarily hospitalize Mr. Hebert under

an M-1 hold due to his being obviously gravely disabled and a danger to himself," Bourgeois' attorneys wrote. Instead, Pederson allegedly discouraged Hebert from seeking

hospitalization by saying, "If I were in your position, I would want to be in my house, chilling in my room." Pederson also told the only Berry House staff member on duty that

"if he was actively talking about hallucinations and things like that with me, I would take him to the hospital." Hebert had, in fact, told the deputies he was hallucinating. Later

that day, Hebert left Berry House a second time and returned to the park. He stepped out onto the frozen water in the reservoir and fell through. Rocky Mountain Care and Consulting

allegedly did not inform police he was missing until hours had passed, nor did it inform Bourgeois for weeks about Hebert's earlier disappearance. More than a month later, on Feb. 6,

law enforcement located Hebert in the reservoir, dead at age 30. Bourgeois alleged that Jeffco's lack of crisis intervention training for deputies was responsible for her son's

death. She also claimed Fosler and Pederson were liable through a 2020 police accountability law Colorado legislators enacted to address violations of rights under the state constitution.

Finally, she accused Hilary and Teddi Samuel, the leaders of Rocky Mountain Care and Consulting, of neglecting their duties to keep Hebert safe, monitor him and adequately staff their

facility. Jefferson County moved to dismiss the lawsuit by arguing Colorado law did not require the deputies to transport Hebert to a hospital. Despite Pederson seeming to dismiss the idea

of hospitalizing Hebert, the full body-worn camera footage showed Pederson was open to "get(ting) you some help." "Deputies’ affirmative conduct — locating Mr. Hebert at Blue

Heron Park in his underwear and slippers and driving him home — benefitted him. It certainly did not put him at substantial risk of serious, immediate, and proximate harm," wrote the

Jefferson County Attorney's Office. Rocky Mountain Care and Consulting offered one reason why it should not be held liable: The only thing it could do was call for emergency assistance,

which it did. Nothing more was required. Sweeney rejected the idea that the lawsuit's claims were not viable. Even though the deputies knew Hebert was in distress, she observed,

Pederson appeared to minimize the need for crisis intervention. "Defendants Fosler and Pederson’s conduct shocks the conscience," she wrote. The deputies "allegedly

discouraged Mr. Hebert from seeking necessary psychiatric care and hospitalization despite having actual knowledge of his distressed mental condition — as well as the dangers it posed — and

misrepresented the severity of that condition to a Berry House staff member." Further, Sweeney agreed the allegations, if true, indicated Jefferson County's own protocols for

deputies contributed to Hebert's death. As for Rocky Mountain Care and Consulting's insistence it had no obligation beyond calling law enforcement, Sweeney noted that state law

required Berry House to protect its residents. "Defendants’ duty included more than simply a duty to call 911 twice, monitor Mr. Hebert’s 'general whereabouts,' or simply

'monitor' him on the premises," she wrote. The case is _Estate of Graham Hebert et al. v. Marinelli et al._