Court Roundup

Georgia: Two inmates sue over body lice treatment
DALTON, Ga. (AP) — Inmates at the Whitfield County Jail say they were humiliated by being held naked for 12 hours and forced to spread cream on their bodies.

Whitfield County sheriff’s Capt. Wesley Lynch said the inmates were made to disrobe to combat an outbreak of body lice in one of the cell blocks, which had to be decontaminated. He says an ointment was applied to the inmates to kill the lice.

Inmates David Bennett and Jesus Gallardo outline their allegations in a federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rome that seeks $5 million. They say more than two dozen inmates had to undergo the treatment.

Colorado: Cop’s widow drops lawsuit over husband’s suicide
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — An Grand Junction police officer’s widow has dropped her federal lawsuit blaming authorities for her husband’s suicide.

Officer Glenn Coyne committed suicide Oct. 6, 2009, five days after his arrest on suspicion of sexual assault. His widow, Michelle, filed a lawsuit in September alleging authorities arrested her husband despite doubts about the accuser’s claims.

A federal lawsuit filed by the accuser against the police department is pending. It alleges that Coyne had a history of violence against women and the department knew about it.

Michelle Coyne dropped her lawsuit earlier this month after her attorney learned facts about the case from the accuser’s attorney.

Mississippi: Victim’s family upset that woman let out on bond
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Relatives of a woman killed in a wreck three years ago are upset they weren’t told in advance about a bond hearing for the woman accused in that crash.

Alice Marie Wilson of Utica was released in December on house arrest and $50,000 bond, after a psychiatrist said her schizophrenia was in remission. She’s accused of killing Alice Faye Clausell, 69, of Moss Point, while fleeing from police three years ago.

Wilson, 33, is scheduled for trial March 7 on a charge of fleeing a law enforcement officer resulting in a death of another person. If convicted, she could get up to 40 years in prison.

Police began chasing Wilson in Raymond on April 21, 2007. The chase ended in Jackson, when her car hit one carrying Clausell and her two daughters, who both were injured.

Wilson had been jailed for three years without a bond hearing.

Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green ordered Wilson to get mental health treatment while out on bond.