A list of witnesses and exhibits has been filed in federal court in a wrongful death suit against the county, sheriff and members of his staff.



Doris Rollins, sister of Larry Dale Byford, 54, is suing Sheriff Randall Boyce, Capt. Tim Lokey of the county workhouse, Donna Delrio, who works as a nurse at the jail, the county and “John and Jane Doe, employees of Bedford County, Tennessee,” over her brother’s death.



Byford died on Oct. 19, 2009 at Vanderbilt Medical Center after suffering an apparent heart attack while incarcerated at the county jail, and Rollins filed suit last October claiming that her brother was denied medical care.



United States District Judge Harry S. Mattice has scheduled a jury trial for Nov. 1 in Winchester to hear the suit.



According to documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Chattanooga, the county stated it would call Rollins, Dr. Howard Rupard via video deposition, Lokey, Delrio, Prison Jail Consultant Ron McAndrew of Dunnellon, Fla. and Dr. Jordan Asher, M.D. of Nashville as witnesses in the case.



The county also might call Boyce to the stand, as well as 20 other members of the sheriff’s department staff.



Rollins has also listed herself as a witness, along with Alan Walsh and Michael Throneberry of Shelbyville, Eugene Miller of Washington D.C., Gene Keto of Chapel Hill, Edward Shackleford, M.D. of Lewisburg, Dr. Rupard, Delrio, Boyce, Lokey, Chief Deputy David Williams, Jr., a number of sheriff and workhouse employees as well as all correctional officers employed at the Bedford County Workhouse during Byford’s incarceration.



Rollins wishes to enter a total of 17 exhibits, which include Byford’s inmate file, including all statements in it, all deposition exhibits, Byford’s inmate medical form, all of the county’s corrections shift reports, the workhouse’s general orders and handwritten logs during Byford’s incarceration, a form listing Byford’s medication brought from home, and his workhouse medical file.



She is also asking that Byford’s medication history from Dr. Rupard be included as an exhibit, as well as audio tapes provided by the county of Byford’s phone calls, photos of Byford, his death certificate, medical records from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dr. Rupard’s medical chart of Byford and “any and all exhibits identified” by the county.



Suit claims



Rollins has claimed that Byford told jailers on Oct. 4, 2009, he was having a lot of swelling in his legs and feet and that his medications were not helping this problem. The suit also claims Byford had trouble urinating, but the county has denied this. Byford was taken to see Dr. Rupard on Oct. 5 and was given an increase in medication, but the county denies Rollins’ claims that the doctor was to see the inmate again in 8 days.



Instead, attorneys for the county stated that Dr. Rupard “had been scheduled to appear at the jail for his regularly scheduled inmate visits eight days after Mr. Byford’s visit and Dr. Rupard stated he would see Mr. Byford at that time.” The county is also continuing to deny claims by Rollins that there were multiple requests from Byford and her during the period from Oct. 14 to the 16th for further medical attention.



They also deny Rollins’ claim they refused to let her see Byford at the jail on Oct. 16, stating that she never showed up for her scheduled visit.



Rollins also claims that Byford called on the same day and spoke with his mother and sister “and told them he had not been seen by the doctor and that he was so weak and swollen that he could hardly walk.” But the county is denying this claim and demands “strict proof thereof.”



Byford’s sister also claims in the suit that her brother’s death was due to “GI bleed with a secondary diagnose of renal failure and status post cardiac arrest” and that her brother’s medical needs “were completely disregarded resulting in physical torture and lingering death,” which the county denies.



In his last filing, Michael T. Schmitt, representing the county in the case, asked a federal judge to dismiss Rollins’ amended complaint, stating that no cause of action exists under the Tenth Amendment; Boyce, Lokey and Delrio were only sued in their official capacities and are entitled to qualified immunity; Rollins’ amended complaint fails to establish municipal liability; the county retains immunity for all state law claims; and that the amended complaint does not establish a state law claim against Boyce or Lokey.



He also asserts that the Tennessee Medical Malpractice Act claim should be dismissed for failure to follow the pre-litigation filing requirements, and that punitive damages are not available against Bedford County.



Schmitt had stated that they had submitted the case to the court’s mediation program, however, a document filed in June noted that mediation was terminated without settlement and that it would not be conducted again.



Mediation is a process provided by the federal court that assists parties engaged in litigation with resolving their legal disputes without going to trial.



Rollins is represented by Lewisburg attorneys Barbara Medley and Jheri Beth Rich, while attorneys for Boyce, Lokey, Delrio and Bedford County are Schmitt and W. Carl Spining of Nashville.