Wednesday, March 14, 2001
|
Wednesday, March 14, 2001 |
|
Deputy goes back on patrol after jail death By JOHN MUNFORD A Fayette County grand jury has declined to indict a deputy sheriff on involuntary manslaughter charges for the death of an inmate back at the Fayette County Jail in August. David Lee Martin is preparing to return to full duty after being on paid leave since the incident that led to the death of inmate James Lee Eppinger, said Maj. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. According to initial reports, Eppinger was being transported elsewhere in the building when an altercation broke out. Martin, who is a road deputy, was on desk duty when he was called by the jail to assist in handling Eppinger, Jordan said. The incident was caught on videotape, he added. "It was just one of those freak things that happened," Jordan said. Now that the criminal investigation is complete, an administrative inquiry will be conducted over a few days to determine if Martin broke any internal regulations, Jordan added. According to the indictment prosecutors sought, Martin was assisting other jail personnel in handcuffing Eppinger so he could be moved to a detention cell. Prosecutors claimed Martin used "deadly force" in subduing Eppinger by squeezing and pulling on his neck, which cut off the flow of oxygen to his brain. Prosecutors sought to indict Martin last week for felony and misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor count of reckless conduct relating to the death of James Lee Eppinger, who was an inmate at the jail. The "no bill" decision returned by the grand jury essentially means it felt there wasn't enough evidence for Martin to stand trial on the criminal charges. Almost a day and a half was dedicated to presenting witnesses to the grand jury from a witness list of 25 people including jail personnel and inmates. The case was presented to the grand jury by Gray Conger, a district attorney from Columbus who was chosen to serve after local district attorney William McBroom recused himself from the case. Conger said he felt the evidence warranted being heard before a grand jury consisting of Fayette County residents. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigated the incident thoroughly, Conger noted. The Citizen requested a copy of that case file, but was told the case wouldn't be closed for another week and therefore the file could not be provided.
|
||