Federal judges dismissed a $10 million lawsuit filed by the family of a woman who died while in custody of the Carroll County Sheriff's Department in 2005.
A federal appeals court panel has upheld the dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Carroll County in 2006 by the estate of Debbie Loggins, who died in the back of a sheriff's deputy's squad car.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lawsuit's dismissal. The panel said it found no evidence that Loggins' constitutional rights were violated.
U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled in 2008 that Loggins' death did not result from force used by three deputies when they arrested her Sept. 17, 2005.
Loggins died in Grenada after being arrested by Carroll County authorities for allegedly assaulting a woman in North Carrollton. She was taken to the Grenada County Jail, where women offenders are held. She was charged with disorderly conduct.
According to federal court dockets Carroll County attorneys had argued that Loggins' death had nothing to do with the actions of the deputies.
The 5th Circuit panel said there was "no evidence ... that the deputies acted with deliberate indifference toward Loggins at any time."
According to a 2008 testimony from state pathologist, Dr. Steven Hayne, he determined that Loggins died of hyperthermia and said her body temperature was 107.5 when she arrived in Grenada.
The Loggins' family expert stated that she died of suffocation.
Loggins' family contended the victim's civil rights were denied while she was in the custody of the sheriff's deputies.
Authorities contended that Loggins, who was five feet and four inches tall, fought and struggled from the time deputies arrived until somewhere near Grenada. Federal dockets showed that Loggins seized then-deputy Michael Spellman's flashlight and "pummeled him about the head and shoulders."
The complaint alleged a deputy had Loggins' hands cuffed behind her back and her feet shackled, and that the officers "hog-tied" the woman by taking a set of handcuffs and linking the cuffs on her wrists to the ones on her ankles.
Then, the complaint said, the deputies placed Loggins face-down on the back seat of Mims' car and took her to the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, where Loggins was transferred to another patrol car.
When Loggins arrived at the Grenada jail, the complaint said, she did not have a pulse.
Early reports showed that the patrol car, in which Loggins died, was equipped with air conditioning.
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