Reynolds case may be split

Two defendants in the Reynolds wrongful-death lawsuit have filed a motion to sever the action.

Michael Sawyers and D.R. Dickens, through their attorneys, filed the motion to sever Sept. 20. A hearing on the motion is scheduled as part of next week's session of Alleghany County Civil Superior Court, which begins Oct. 14.

Mark Reynolds, Jackie Dean Reynolds' son and administrator of his estate, is suing Alleghany Memorial Hospital, Dr. Thomas Douglas Murray, physician's assistant Donna Reeves, New River Area Programs (a.k.a. New River Behavioral Healthcare), outpatient therapist/social worker Carol

Elizabeth Miller Holcomb, and then-Alleghany County Sheriff's Department officers Michael Sawyers and D.R. Dickens over his father's death four years ago.

Jackie Reynolds, a 46-year-old Wilkes County resident, was taken to AMH, then to the Alleghany County Jail, following a single-vehicle crash April 19, 1998 near Sparta.

He became unconscious following an altercation with sheriff's department personnel at the jail and was taken to N.C. Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. He remained in a coma and died there June 21, 1998.

The suit accuses AMH, Murray, Reeves, New River and Holcomb of negligence, and Sawyers and Dickens of using excessive force, resulting in Reynolds' death. As of Tuesday, all defendants except Reeves had filed official responses denying the allegations. Reeves' deadline to respond was Wednesday.

All the responses filed thus far claim a "misjoinder" of parties and claims.

That alleged misjoinder is the basis of the Sawyers' and Dickens' motion asking that they be severed from the case.

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