Federal jury rules guard not reponsible for death of inmate

Jace Radke

Friday, March 28, 2003 | 9:40 a.m.

Metro Police will not have to pay millions of dollars to the family of a man who died in the Clark County Detention Center, a jury decided Thursday.

It took the eight-person federal jury about an hour to conclude that Corrections Officer David Devaney was not responsible for the death of Terry Jones, a 33-year-old North Las Vegas man.

Jones died on Nov. 21, 1998, two hours after he was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving.

Metro Police said Jones threatened corrections officers and became combative when medical staff attempted to draw his blood for testing.

But attorneys for the Jones family alleged that Terry Jones died from excessive force used by Devaney, who kicked Jones in the head while subduing him.

The verdict was returned to U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson after two weeks of trial testimony. The wrongful death suit asked the jury to award more than $1 million plus punitive damages to Terry Jones' wife, Andrea Jones, and his two children, Terry Jr. and Francesca.

An autopsy performed by former Clark County Medical Examiner Dr. Sheldon Green showed that Jones died from acute cardiac arrhythmia, but a second autopsy performed by a doctor hired by Christopher Gellner, attorney for the plaintiffs, included different findings.

In the second autopsy, performed by Dr. Robert Bucklin, it was determined that Jones suffered severe blunt force trauma to his head, and the trauma was a "significant" factor in his death.

Green had found that hypertension and obesity contributed to Jones accidental death. Jones was 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighed 260 pounds.

A Metro internal affairs investigation determined that Devaney used excessive force when he kicked Jones in the head.

Devaney, who also used his foot to hold down Jones' head, was disciplined by the department, but was not prosecuted. Devaney continues to work as a corrections officer.

Jones had been arrested after patrol officers allegedly found him passed out behind the wheel of his car with the engine running. Jones was reportedly unsteady on his feet when he got out the car, and police said there was an open 22-ounce beer in the car.