Metro hit with suit over death of man after his arrest

Monday, April 26, 1999 | 10:42 a.m.

An attorney for a woman suing Metro Police corrections officers in the Nov. 21 death of her husband said today that he plans to have the body of Terry Jones exhumed so that independent forensic experts can examine the injuries.

"The coroner was not told he was kicked in the head (until after the autopsy was performed) and they never X-rayed the body for broken bones," said attorney Christopher Gellnerm, who on Friday filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Jones' widow, Andrea, and the couple's two children.

"We feel the corrections officers and arresting officers used excessive force."

The suit seeks in excess of $1 million plus punitive damages in the death of the 33-year-old North Las Vegas man. Andrea Jones is suing for grief and sorrow, loss of support and loss of companionship.

An autopsy performed by Dr. Sheldon Green on Nov. 22 showed that Jones died from acute cardiac arrhythmia because of coronary artery insufficiency. Green ruled the death accidental and said that Jones' hypertension and obesity contributed to his weakened heart. Jones was 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 260 pounds.

Corrections Officer David Devaney is named in the suit. A Metro Police Internal Affairs investigation recently concluded that excessive force was used by a corrections officer in subduing Jones. The investigation confirmed that Devaney violated department policy by kicking Jones in his head at the jail.

Devaney, who also used his foot to hold down Jones' head, will not be prosecuted because police investigators determined that his actions were not criminal. The case was not forwarded to the district attorney's office.

Also named in the suit are up to four yet-to-be-identified corrections officers; a Metro Police officer identified as D. Giersdorf; Amanda Jones, a nurse; the Metro Police Department; Sheriff Jerry Keller and EMSA, a Florida company that provides medical care at the jail.

The lawsuit alleges that corrections officers and nurses left Jones lying on the floor for about an hour without medical treatment.

Jones was pronounced dead at the University Medical Center two hours after he had been arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving on the night of Nov. 21.

Police said Jones threatened corrections officers at the jail and became combative when medical staff attempted to take a blood sample. A half-dozen officers tried to restrain Jones, who continued to struggle and apparently went into cardiac arrest and died.