Hung jury reports to judge in Reynolds lawsuit; case may be retried

Judge Russell G. Walker Jr. declared a mistrial Tuesday afternoon, as the Reynolds versus Sawyers and Dickens wrongful death lawsuit ended with a hung jury.

The six-man, six-woman panel deliberated for almost five hours before the foreman told Walker they could not reach a unanimous decision. Just after declaring a mistrial, the judge said he favors a change of venue, and attorneys agreed to meet with him for a hearing on that issue in early December. Parties on both sides seemed subdued following the mistrial declaration, showing little emotion other than weariness. That was in contrast to the thick tensions and intense emotions which marked much of the trial, which lasted more than a week.

During the trial, attorneys referred to more than 150 exhibits. That diversity of items ranged from a 674-page report to a straitjacket to a teddy bear.

The case concerned events the night of April 19, 1998 and the morning of April 20, 1998. Jackie Dean Reynolds, a 46-year-old Wilkes County resident, was the driver in a single-vehicle crash near Sparta. He was charged with driving while impaired and careless and reckless driving. Reynolds was first taken to Alleghany Memorial Hospital, where he was evaluated and assessed and then released to the Alleghany County Jail. He acted erratically at the hospital and the jail. After several hours at the jail, Reynolds became involved in an altercation with several Alleghany County Sheriff’s Department officers, including jailer Michael Sawyers and Deputy Donnie (D.R.) Dickens. Reynolds then became unconscious and was returned to AMH, then airlifted to N.C. Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem where he remained in a coma and died June 21, 1998. The suit, initiated by Mark Reynolds, the son of Jackie Reynolds and administrator of his estate, claims that Sawyers and Dickens were negligent and used excessive force, causing Jackie Reynolds’ death. Sawyers and Dickens denied those allegations.

Sawyers and Dickens were sued in their official capacities as officers; therefore, as Walker explained during his instructions to the jury, the sheriff’s department is considered a defendant in the case.

8-4 Deadlocks

Tuesday morning, just before deliberations began, the judge had told the jury it had three questions to consider:

Was the death of Jackie Dean Reynolds caused by the negligence of Michael Sawyers? Was the death of Jackie Dean Reynolds caused by the negligence of D.R. Dickens? If the answer to either or both of those questions was yes, the jury was then to consider the third question: What amount is the estate of Jackie Dean Reynolds entitled to recover for wrongful death?

In response to the judge’s questions, the foreman said the jury was deadlocked on each of the first two questions. The group had voted six times, with the vote continuing to be 8-4 on each question. The judge asked what the vote was but instructed the foreman not to indicate which way was prevalent. With the deadlock on the first two questions, the jury did not consider the third. Walker asked the foreman if further deliberations might produce a consensus. "It doesn’t look that way," he replied. "I feel everybody’s set in their decision right now, your honor.

The jury had first indicated its inability to agree in mid-afternoon, with the foreman telling Walker the group had voted two or three times. The judge then had them resume deliberations. He told them to diligently try to reach a unanimous decision, if they could do so without surrendering their conscientious convictions.

Mark Reynolds’ attorneys, Luke Largess and Gregory J. Brewer, called nine witnesses: Trooper Bob Lane of the N.C. Highway Patrol, who investigated the crash and arrested Jackie Reynolds, Dr. Frank Ramsey, its medical expert; Patsy McKnight, a nurse at AMH at the time of the incidents; Reginald F. Allerd Jr.; Marlene Dowell; Ronald James Reynolds; William J. Eller; Tonya Reynolds; and Mark Reynolds.

Reginald Allerd, a training officer at the Connecticut Police Academy, said, "The officers employed techniques that were beyond reason, beyond training and beyond necessity."

Much of the testimony centered around a full nelson hold which some witnesses asserted that Dickens used to restrain Jackie Reynolds during the altercation; and pepper spray used by Sawyers on Reynolds. Allerd demonstrated the full nelson on Brewer. "The full nelson is an upper body neck restraint....Upper body neck restraints are deadly force methods," said Allerd. Five officers were present during the altercation, he said. Those were Sawyers, Dickens, Roger Bledsoe, Allan Gerald Cornett and Franklin Hash. "There was no need to do that particular restraint causing the asphyxiation....No one in the record states that they were in danger of death or serious injury."

Allerd said of Reynolds’ death, "It was foreseeable as a consequence of applying that technique."

He said the difference in size between the men was also a factor.

Reynolds was about 5’8" and 150 pounds; Dickens was 6’2" and 275 pounds at the time.

Sawyers’ first use of pepper spray was a fogger used to get Reynolds to relinquish a shower rod pipe he was brandishing. Sawyers later attempted to use a stream pepper spray. Allerd said the second use compromised Reynolds’ breathing.

At one point Reynolds had fashioned a noose made from a pillow casing and tied it around his neck. "At that time Deputy Sawyers should have notified the chief jailer," said Allerd; local jail policy requires notifying mental health personnel of a suicidal inmate.

Under cross-examination by Bradley Wood, one of Sawyers’ and Dickens’ attorneys, Allerd acknowledged that there was no medical evidence that pepper spray had an effect on Reynolds’ ability to breathe.

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