January 4, 2017 – The Supreme Court of Nebraska heard an argument from Brian Jorde, an attorney at the Domina Law Group, regarding the tragic 2014 murder of Melissa Rodriguez at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, Mikeal Loyd, a mental patient, who was in the custody and control of Lasting Hope Recovery Center, a division of the $24 billion Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI).
Watch Jorde’s argument in full below.
Jorde is asking the court to recognize law that imposes a duty when an institution has actual control of a dangerous person to prevent them from harming third parties. In this case, Loyd was arrested on an assault and battery warrant related to Melissa. He had previously falsely imprisoned her and attempted to contact her by phone more than 30 times in two days while in the custody of Lasting Hope. Police came to Lasting Hope to take Loyd back into their custody, when Lasting Hope reconfirmed it had custody of him and told the police to leave. Two days later, Lasting Hope allowed Loyd to walk out, and within three hours Melissa was dead.
Loyd then went back to Lasting Hope where he requested they wash and launder his bloody clothes, evidence of the murder. They did so.
Jorde hopes the court will allow this lawsuit to go back to District Court and proceed towards trial.
Jorde previously commented on this case early in 2016 during an interview on KETV 7. Watch the full segment as it appeared on the air here.
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