BENTON – Senior U. S. District Judge Phil Gilbert postponed an excessive force trial against Madison County deputies for three months in anticipation of a winter storm.
Trial would have started on the morning of Jan. 24, but Gilbert called it off due to predictions of inclement weather starting that evening.
He set it for April 10.
Brian Schell of Highland seeks damages from Madison County, Eric Schellhardt, and Marc Asbury.
Schellhardt and Asbury pulled Schell over near U. S. 40 and Route 4 in 2018, and Schellhardt tasered him for five seconds twice.
They charged him with resisting arrest and sent a danger report to Illinois state police, who revoked his firearm card.
Schell lost his job as security chief of Graham prison at Hillsboro because he couldn’t perform his job without a firearm.
A jury acquitted him of resisting in October 2019, and the prison reinstated him.
Brian Polinske of Edwardsville sued the county and the deputies in December 2019, claiming Schell didn’t make aggressive motions, yell, curse, or threaten them.
He sought damages for lost wages, benefits, and deferred compensation, and for anguish, distress, and deprivation of freedom.
He alleged malice on Schellhardt’s part and sought punitive damages against him.
Heidi Eckert of Clayton, Missouri, represents the county and the deputies.