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EXTRA CONTENT: County facing another Sheriff’s Dept. related lawsuit
Posted On 15 Dec 2010
To read the complete text of this lawsuit, click here.
Representatives of the estate of Cassandra Byrd, who was killed in June when she was hit by an SUV on Interstate 75 after escaping from the custody of a Whitley County Sheriff’s deputy, have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Whitley County, the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff Lawrence Hodge and Deputy Ben Hodge.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff, Crystal Lee Meibeyer, the administratix of Byrd’s estate, claims that Deputy Hodge deprived Byrd of her Constitutional Rights set out in the Fourth, Fifth, and 14th Amendments and such violations were, "a substantial factor in causing plaintiff to suffer physical pain up to and including death, lost wages or earnings, medical expenses and the impairment of her ability to earn money."
Specifically, the plaintiff claims, Hodge had no cause to arrest Byrd, as she had committed no crime.
According to Deputy Hodge, Hodge came up on Byrd’s vehicle near the six-mile marker on north I-75 on June 5. The initial call was for a vehicle fire, but Deputy Hodge reported that Byrd stopped because her car was overheating.
In the 911 tapes, Deputy Hodge is heard telling Whitley Dispatch, "She did not wreck. She drove off the side of the road. She is plowed drunk."
Deputy Hodge arrested Byrd, handcuffed her with her hands behind her back and placed her in the back of his cruiser. While he was collecting evidence from the scene, he said Byrd somehow slipped out of the handcuffs, got out of the cruiser and ran across the interstate where she was struck by a passing vehicle and killed.
Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley said Byrd was thrown about 200 feet from the point of impact. She was pronounced dead at the scene. She still had the handcuffs locked around her left wrist.
According to Croley, a toxicology report released in November indicated Byrd had a blood alcohol level of .224. Under Kentucky Law, a person is considered intoxicated if the blood alcohol is .08.
In addition, the toxicology indicated the presence of THS, which Croley said is the active ingredient in marijuana.
Whitley County Sheriff’s Det. Charles Davis said previously that an undisclosed amount of marijuana was found on the console of Bryd’s vehicle, along with a ceramic pipe that could have been used to smoke it.
Investigators also found a number of opened and unopened beer cans inside Byrd’s vehicle
Croley added that Byrd’s family indicated the Lexington resident, was supposed to be going to Indiana and could not explain why she would be in Whitley County.
The Whitley County Sheriff’s Department and Kentucky State Police are both investigating how Bryd got out of the handcuffs and out of the cruiser.
The lawsuit, in which the plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages, also alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence on the part of Deputy Hodge, which led to Byrd’s injuries and death, and failure of Sheriff Hodge and the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department to properly train Deputy Hodge.
Whitley County Judge Executive Pat White Jr. said the county had been served with lawsuit and a response will likely be filed in the next few days.
Neither Meiberyer’s attorney, Hailey Bonham, nor Sheriff Hodge could be reached for comment.
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Sorry to sat he Hodge is at fault how did she get out if she was secured in the car. Someone had intentions (Hodge) of doing nothing see where they are at now!
The deputy did not make her leap out of his car and run into traffic. He did not force her to drink so much alcohol that she was blown out of her head. He may have failed to follow some sort of normal protocol but her death is her own fault not his.
hey did you all read
She was pronounced dead at the scene. She still had the handcuffs locked around her left wrist.
she commited suicide that night. drinking and smoking dope -driving out of her mind. The cop put handcuffs and put her in the cruiser – what else could he have done to protect other than sit in the car with her. It never crossed the cops mind that she would run out in the middle of the interstate and kill herself. The woman was out of control and that is a sad ending. There is nothing no one could have done about it. I am almost willing to bet the poor woman would have wondered out onto the highway and been hit that night no matter what.
The lawsuit is a joke. People need to just suck it up and take responsibilty and learn from the mistakes. She should have not been so drunk and drugged up. I am sure no one forced that on her. Her choice.
did anyone see her driving drunk , maybe she had beer in the car and decided to drink it, due to her being thristy and on the side of the road, just maybe there was someone else driving who had hitch to the next exit, you do not know if she was driving drunk , nor do i we just know she had booze in her system making her drunk but no one not even the cop knows for sure that she was operating that car
LOL. Fact any decent judge that threw this case out would have his decision reversed on appeal since he would be basing his decision on your opinion.
Fact a properly secured prisoner in the back of a police cruiser is not getting out, and if you deny that you should got sit in one not hand-cuffed and try to get out. (Seriously, I know this is Whitley County and education levels are low bu really?)
Fact drunk or not the woman had a presumption of innocence and if you doubt that it really shows how much you did not pay attention in school.
Fact the suit only claims that the deputy’s actions played a substantial role in the death. This is important since most wrongful death suits are based on this notion… again your ability to research these issues is fully within your grasp.
Fact securing a prisoner is not a discretionary duty so concepts as qualified official immunity do not apply. That is, the deputy had an obligation to properly secure the prisoner, and it appears that any reasonable or rational person would see that. But that may not apply to certain people posting here and asserting they is no cause of action (legal speak).
Fact, “The Whitley County Sheriff’s Department and Kentucky State Police are both investigating how Bryd got out of the handcuffs and out of the cruiser.” Why is this issue relevant since it was the victims fault? Over the past decade all we have seen from local law enforcement officials is questionable actions, in my opinion, so why not just cover this puppy up? Perhaps the feds are watching too closely?
Fact “case dismissed” is a fancy way of saying this issue is too complex for me to analyze so I will offer straw man arguments, you do realize every issue presented is that, right?
Ridiculous! Any decent judge will throw this out and give the attorney that filed it a good butt chewing.
Fact – she was driving on the interstate drunker than hell and was a danger to herself and everyone else.
Fact – the deputy did not make her drink.
Fact – the deputy did not make her run out in the road and get killed.
Fact – adults are responsible for their own actions.
Case dismissed.
Wow to those indivuals that are saying there is no cause for litigation here.
First from the article:
Deputy Hodge arrested Byrd, handcuffed her with her hands behind her back and placed her in the back of his cruiser. While he was collecting evidence from the scene, he said Byrd somehow slipped out of the handcuffs, got out of the cruiser and ran across the interstate where she was struck by a passing vehicle and killed.
Second, she had BA content of .244 which is substantial and would make the first set of information very suspect. Seriously, escaping properly secured handcuffs is not easy and there is no door handles in the back-seat of a cruiser, if memory serves.
Third, “the initial call was for a vehicle fire, but Deputy Hodge reported that Byrd stopped because her car was overheating.” Oddly, he then stated, “She did not wreck. She drove off the side of the road. She is plowed drunk.”
The point of each of these points is that it is a he said, what the facts reflect said scenario. These are all issues of material fact (lawyer speak), and the fact that the estate of Cassandra Byrd has standing to bring the issue are also relevant.
Please note that you might want to brush up on the federal rules of civil liability too since it is clearly relevant to this case. Naturally, though it is doubtful any person would since we have conditioned ourselves to view the government and its appointees are infallible…..
Jean Valjean you said it yourself if standard procedure is used,it seems to me that standard procedure would mean putting the cuffs on so that the person could not get out of them,and further more how did this person get out of the cruiser? doesn’t sound like anything was standard to me.
Sorry to inform you Ron, but you are dead wrong, no pun intended. When a criminal suspect is placed under arrest and escapes from custody the officer is not to blame. If he followed standard procedure whether written or customary he is not liable. The courts ruled many years ago that a person is responsible for their actions whether they are drunk or sober.
People look for big paydays by suing the county and expecting them to settle, I hope the judge has the foresight and common sense to dismiss this. This is BS and the attorney knows it.
Sorry to say but the law suit is justified, Once someone is arrested the arresting agency has a duty to protect that person from harm, Weather it be from someone else or themselves.
The fact that she was drunk and possibly under the influence of drugs only adds to the need for protection.
The facts seem pretty clear to me that she WAS placed into custody and was able to get out of handcuffs and a cruiser (which should have had the door handles inoperable), The officer stated she was drunk therefor acknowledging he was aware of her situation and responsible for her safety.
Maybe the fact that her blood alcohol was .244 would explain how she ended up in Whitley Co. trying to get to Indiana. This lawsuit is ludicrous, she did commit a crime, she was driving drunk! Then she tries to run across the interstate, isn’t that fleeing and evading not to mention escape. The judge should throw this suit out with the trash. Victim stupidity, not police neglect led to her death!