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Cheatham County Jail Tasing Lawsuit Settled

Cheatham County Jail Tasing Lawsuit Settled
Posted at 10:14 AM, Sep 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-19 00:00:23-04

A former Cheatham County inmate who was repeatedly tased while strapped to a restraint chair has dropped his lawsuit against three deputies. 

The attorney for Jordan Norris said his client has reached a settlement in the case - the terms of which were confidential.

The lawsuit alleged deputies used excessive force that amounted to "torture" when they tased Norris dozens of times while he was in a restraint chair last November.

The lawsuit was first reported by NewsChannel 5 Investigates and video from the case went viral.

Norris' attorney Ben Raybin said his client has received support from around the world.

"Jordan is grateful for the outpouring of support he has received from people all over the world who have expressed their shock and concern," Raybin said.

The settlement involved only the civil lawsuit and did not impact the criminal charges filed in early September against one of the deputies involved.

A grand jury indicted former deputy Mark Bryant with four counts of aggravated assault and one county of official misconduct.

The TBI found that Bryant used a stun gun on Norris at least four times.

One instance lasted approximately 25 seconds.

"Jordan is satisfied that his lawsuit prompted action to be taken against Deputy Bryant. Most importantly, the Sheriff has stated that steps are being taken within the jail to help ensure this never happens again," Raybin said.

Cheatham County Sheriff Mike Breedlove initially said his deputies followed procedure, but after NewsChannel 5's story aired he changed his statement and said he had not seen all of the videos in the case.

After Bryant's arrest, Breedlove promised to make changes to prevent this from happening again.

Attorney Ben Raybin said, "It is troubling that nothing was done in the eight months before this case was reported in the media."

He said that Norris continues to struggle from what happened to him and that he will continue to help with the criminal investigation.

Breedlove released the following statement: 

"Cheatham citizens have been so supportive of their sheriff's office and it's dedicated employees. A terrible mistake was made and has been addressed. Because of this, we have become better servants. We will always do our best to protect all citizens including inmates in our facility."