Chief Judge Jones grants summary judgment for jailers in detainee death case

In Stiltner v. Crouse, Chief Judge Jones of the W.D. Va. granted the motions for summary judgment of jailers from Buchanan County, where plaintiff failed to prove they were responsible for the death of a woman at the Buchanan County jail.

The plaintiff argued, among other things, the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, that the jailers must have been negligent if the woman in the cell died of strangulation. The Court concluded the death remains a mystery, and so the plaintiff has not proven a case against the jailers.