Amherst deputies cleared in man’s death

AMHERST — Amherst County Sheriff’s deputies have been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in the 2005 death of a man in their custody.

A report, filed Aug. 12 by special prosecutor and Halifax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kim White, states that their actions did not rise to the level of manslaughter or murder.

“I have concluded that criminal charges against the law enforcement officers are not warranted and could not be successfully prosecuted in a criminal court,” White wrote.

White was appointed as a special prosecutor on the case to avoid creating a conflict of interest with the Amherst County commonwealth’s attorney. White declined an interview request Monday.

The decision not to prosecute was made nearly two years ago, she wrote, but was not publicly disclosed until last week, after Amherst County Circuit Judge Michael Gamble ordered her to report on her findings by Oct. 1.

According to court records, on the evening of June 16, 2005, Amherst County deputies Debbie Tinnell, Darren Givens, Brian Drewry, D.K. Dodson and Betty Wise responded to a call that a man was trying to break into Bethel Welding near U.S. 29.

Finding 28-year-old Sanchez Taylor at the building, Tinnell and Givens cuffed Taylor, but struggled to control or move him, according to statements filed in U.S. District Court in Lynchburg.

Drewry and Dodson came to assist while Taylor continued to struggle. Within minutes, deputies noticed Taylor was not breathing. He later died.

Taylor’s death was ruled a homicide by medical examiners, with cocaine abuse and heart disease listed as contributing factors.

On the two-year anniversary of his death in June 2007, Taylor’s mother filed a $15 million wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court.

It alleges the deputies threw Taylor on a ladder and ornamental rack at the welding shop and held him down, suffocating him.

The lawsuit claims Taylor was at the welding shop looking for help after his car broke down and he struggled because he was being crushed.

In her report, White wrote that the level of force used by the deputies was consistent with sheriff’s office policies and that there was no intent to kill Taylor, negligence or disregard for human life — factors that would have to be shown to prosecute the deputies for murder or for involuntary manslaughter.

The report also discusses accusations that Taylor was intoxicated and that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. It states that cocaine was found in Taylor’s car and that witnesses described him as being “messed up.”

A friend said that on the day of his death, “she had never seen him in a more nervous state and that she saw both of (his) shoulders flinching, something she had never observed.”

White noted that when she reached her decision not to prosecute in 2006, she contacted Arelia Langhorne, the Lynchburg lawyer representing the dead man’s mother. In late 2006, her report states, she met with Langhorne and shared the contents of her investigative file, “as I believed she would be entitled to the information for preparation of the civil suit I understood she intended to file.”

White has refused to allow The News & Advance access to this file.

Public information laws in Virginia only require the release of “a general description of the criminal activity reported, the date and general location the alleged crime was committed, the identity of the investigating officer and a general description of any injuries suffered or property damaged or stolen.”

Those laws allow for more information to be released, particularly at the conclusion of an investigation, but White stated Monday in an e-mail that she “exercised (her) discretion to withhold the records.”

The only people notified of her decision not to prosecute in late 2006 were Langhorne, the supervisor of the Virginia State Police independent investigation, and Amherst County Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Maddox.

White’s report states she consciously decided not to make the conclusion in writing and did not respond to questions regarding the status of the case a year later from The News & Advance.

“I believed that a written report could taint a potential jury pool, and thus impair the right to a fair trial by the family of Mr. Taylor,” she wrote.

The federal civil lawsuit is still pending. A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday afternoon, in which a lawyer for the deputies will ask the judge to dismiss the suit, although a mediation conference has been scheduled for Friday morning.

Timeline:

- June 16, 2005: Sanchez Taylor dies in the custody of the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office after a confrontation with deputies.

- Sept. 12, 2005: Medical examiner David Cresson rules Taylor’s death a homicide due to asphyxia from police restraint with cocaine abuse and heart disease as contributing factors.

- June 11, 2006: Amherst County Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Maddox gives her investigative file to Halifax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kim White to avoid a conflict of interest in investigating the county sheriff’s office.

- Aug. 17, 2006: White contacts Arelia Langhorne, a Lynchburg lawyer representing Taylor’s mother, Melva Taylor Davis. She asks Langhorne for relevant materials she should review. Langhorne responded on Oct. 23.

- Late 2006: At a date listed in the report numerous times only as “late 2006,” White and Langhorne meet at White’s Halifax office. White notifies her she will not file charges against the deputies. White allows Langhorne to review her file “as I believed she would be entitled to the information for preparation of the civil suit I understood she intended to file.” White subsequently informs a lead state police investigator and Maddox that she will not file charges in the case. White said she did not announce that decision publicly to avoid prejudicing a potential jury in a civil case.

- June 2007: Langhorne files a $15 million lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Lynchburg against Amherst County administrators, Sheriff Jimmy Ayers and five deputies.

- December 2007-January 2008: The Amherst County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police refuse to provide investigative records to The News & Advance, citing an exemption to public information laws for ongoing investigations. White refuses to answer questions about the status of the investigation or to provide access to her files on the matter. County administrators are dismissed from the case.

- June 13: Ayers dismissed from the lawsuit.

- July 11: Deputy Betty Wise dismissed from the lawsuit.

- Aug. 12: Amherst County Circuit Judge Michael Gamble orders White to produce a report on the three-year-old case. She files a report the same day notifying the court of the decision she made in late 2006.

- Aug. 14: Judge Gamble accepts White’s report and the case is closed. White continues to refuse access to the file.