A federal court jury’s exoneration of three sheriff’s deputies Thursday in a civil wrongful death case highlighted the emotional aspects of using deadly force.
“There’s no way to describe the feeling of having to shoot someone,” said Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Eston Pyle. “It’s always a last resort.”
Deputy Pyle and deputies Nathan Sampley and Denise Short were defendants in the week-long case in federal court, sitting through hours of testimony in which they relived their actions on May 7, 2007, that led to the death of car-theft suspect Thomas Earl Jones.
Such cases rarely go to trial, their defense attorney Jerry Tidwell said. This case came in the wake of five instances of deadly force used by law enforcement agencies across the region in 2009.
The deputies in Mr. Jones’ case said they had no choice except to shoot him. They simultaneously shot at Mr. Jones on a driveway in rural Hamilton County, piercing him with seven bullets as he tried to lunge at Deputy Short with a knife.