Carlton Benton, an inmate at the Lucas County jail, was alleged to have died of natural causes - specifically, a seizure disorder related to the drug Wellbutrin - in a hospital two days after an altercation with deputies trying to remove his shackles at the jail in 2004.

Benton's family never agreed with that opinion, and filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Benton's behalf. That case is currently on hold pending a federal criminal trial against four defendants - the Lucas County Sheriff, the department's internal affairs detective and two jail guards - that involves claims of homicide, lying to an FBI agent and covering up the incident.

There is no dispute that Benton struggled with the deputies on May 30, 2004. Other guards have come forward as witnesses to the altercation, and the autopsy report shows pictures of abrasions to Benton's head, wrists, ankles and neck.

It is the latter mark that is at the center of the trial. Two guards who saw but were not involved in the incident say that a guard who was jostling with Benton administered a sleeper hold unnecessarily on Benton. One of them subsequently went to the jail administrator and voiced his belief that the hold killed Benton.

A forensic pathologist at the trial agrees with that, stating that the chokehold directly caused Benton's death.

No internal discipline was ever administered in the case.

The wrongful death suit is scheduled to resume following conclusion of the criminal trial.

Related Resource: www.foxtoledo.com "Jail admin testifies in Telb trial" November 5, 2010