MIDLAND, MI -- The widow of a Midland man who died hours after a violent exchange with staff at the Midland County Jail has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 31, 2015, in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan, names Midland County and six corrections employees as defendants. It alleges excessive force was used during an effort to subdue inmate Jack B. Marden, causing his death.

The allegations stem from an incident on Feb. 11, 2015, between Marden and corrections officers at the Midland County Jail, an incident captured on video.

Five officers, four of them in helmets and armor, entered a cell housing a naked and upset Marden and secured him by pinning him against the wall, then bringing him to the ground, the lawsuit states.

That's when the 56-year-old inmate grabbed the testicles of the one officer who wasn't wearing protective CERT (Corrections Emergency Response Team) gear.

Marden was struck three to four times in the jaw area in an effort to get him to release his hold, according to the officer's report. Marden began having breathing and health problems, the report states.

Marden was then strapped to a restraint chair at the jail, but after gasping for breath and going limp, a nurse and the guards quickly release him from the chair.

Marden was pronounced dead four days later on Feb. 15 in a hospital bed at Mid-Michigan Medical Center in Midland. The cause of death was determined to be heart failure.

A 'good person'

At her home in Midland, Sharyl Marden said Jan. 4 that she was shocked when she heard the some of the details the led up to her husband's death.

Midland widow files wrongful death lawsuit against Midland County 5 Gallery: Midland widow files wrongful death lawsuit against Midland County

"He was a good person," she said. "He had a good heart."

They were a couple for 22 years, both on second marriages, and married in 2000 in the Smoky Mountains, she said.

He loved to camp and kayak, she said, and the couple sometimes spent nights in their Jeep together while traveling the country to waterfalls and other scenic locations, like the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

"He treated me good. I was his princess," she said.

She called him a "teddy bear."

Her attorney said Jack Marden had one other run-in with police in the past, when he was arrested for marijuana possession at Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant. He had a medical marijuana card, his wife said.

Marden was suffering from depression and anxiety when he was lodged at the Midland Jail, his lawsuit states.

At the time of the jail altercation, Sharyl Marden believes her husband wasn't acting like himself and if she would have seen him before the fight, she could have warned jail staff.

The lawsuit alleges constitutional violations by all defendants and states they were "deliberately indifferent" to Marden's medical conditions, including coronary artery disease, and his inability to breath caused by "unwarranted use of a spit mask."

Midland Sheriff Scott Stephenson said he would not comment on the case when asked about protocol during the incident, because the case is pending in court.

Midland County attorney William Smith said, "The county will look at the complaint and respond appropriately."

Arrest, evaluate

Marden was previously diagnosed with depression, his wife said, and had been on disability since 2010 after a career working at CPI Engineering as a technician.

He was arrested Jan. 19, 2015, after she called 911 while the couple was at their Midland home. She said her husband told her he had taken most of a bottle of Valium, but he said he was joking seconds after she told a 911 operator.

"Jack Marden claimed to have taken an overdose of the drug Valium, was walking in his house with a knife and asked the responding officers to shoot him," the lawsuit states, claiming the dispute between Marden and his wife was verbal.

A Midland police officer used a Taser to subdue and arrest the 56-year-old man, the lawsuit states.

Marden was taken to the hospital in Midland. He had a cut on his arm.

He was observed overnight and discharged. A discharging physician noted Marden was suffering from severe depression but did not believe he presented an imminent threat to himself or others, the lawsuit states.

He remained at his home for 16 days, from Jan. 20 until Feb. 4, when he was arrested on a felony warrant issued for the Jan. 19 incident. The charge was assaulting an officer.

Jack Marden's photograph at the Midland County Jail the Saginaw News obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request sent to Midland County.

Sharyl Marden was at home with him when police came walking up their driveway, and she told him to go without resisting. He did, she said.

Marden underwent a psychiatric evaluation on Feb. 5, in which he was noted to be suffering from depression with anxiety and major depressive disorder, the lawsuit states.

He remained as a "pretrial detainee" in the intake area of the jail from Feb. 4-11, the suit states.

The Saginaw News and MLive received a copy of the incident report from the Midland Jail through the state's Freedom of Information Act.

The report shows Marden was in a mental health evaluation on Feb. 11 when corrections officers were requested to bring him back to a holding cell. Mental health officials reported that he was becoming increasing agitated, corrections officer Jeffrey Derocher wrote in his report about the incident.

The lawsuit states Marden requested to go back to his cell.

Officers escorting Marden reported he exhibited "superhuman strength" and resisted. The four officers then took Marden to the ground as he grabbed Derocher's microphone and yelled "help" and "emergency" multiple times, Derocher wrote.

"I performed two strikes to his left hand in order to break his grasp of the microphone," Derocher wrote, and the officers made a safe exit from the cell.

It was the first of two fights between Marden and corrections officers to happen that day.

Cell extraction

Staff made arrangements for Marden to go to a mental health facility for evaluation, Derocher wrote. Officers formulated a plan for 15 minutes or more, Derocher wrote, on "the best tactic to handle the situation."

In that time, the 5-foot-11, 205-pound Marden recovered from his earlier fatigue, Derocher reported, and had removed his jail jumpsuit, placing it in the toilet with his jail-issued blanket. Marden was seen rubbing soiled toilet paper on his back and shoulders, Derocher wrote, and took a hiding position behind a wall of the cell and kicked the window of the cell door, the report states.

CERT (Corrections Emergency Response Team) members came to the cell outfitted with protective gear including helmets and body armor, the report states.

Derocher, along with the four-member CERT team of Richard Speich, Brian Keidel, Bryan Kryzanowicz and Joshua Saylor, entered the cell.

Capt. Rich Harnois held a video camera and recorded the incident. The Saginaw News obtained the video through the Freedom of Information Act.

All six of them are named as defendants in the suit.

Marden threw the soaked blanked and jumpsuit as the team entered the hold cell. The team restrained Marden upright in the corner of the cell before bringing him to the ground, Derocher writes.

Marden bit Derocher's finger, but his teeth slipped off and clamped down on officer's glove, pulling it partly off, Derocher wrote.

The officer attempted "pressure point control tactics" to the inmate's right mandible (jaw) with no compliance, the report states.

Marden reached up and grabbed Derocher's testicles, the officer wrote, "...squeezing, twisting and pulling on them causing intense pain."

"I ordered Marden to let go of me I then delivered 3-4 strikes to his right jaw area," Derocher wrote. He struck Marden once or twice more in the same area, he wrote, and repositioned with his shin on top of Marden's arm to stop the assault.

The lawsuit alleges Derocher violated jail policy and procedures by not wearing protective gear. The suit alleges Derocher "violently struck and punched Marden in the head repeatedly" before re-positioning his shin.

Marden continued to struggle and Derocher said he requested a "spit hood" when he thought the 56-year-old inmate might spit at him.

Derocher asked Marden to relax while officers continue to restrain him.

"I can't breathe," Marden says several times in the nearly 11 minutes of jail footage. The News edited the video for content and length.

Derocher requests a nurse. He answers "yes" when someone asks soon after if he wants someone to call 911, the video shows.

"I then told her, 'Fast! Fast! Fast!" as I now feared for Marden's health," he wrote.

Marden continued to resist, Derocher wrote, and was placed in a restraint chair, where he sat for several minutes. The video ends after officers rush to release him from the restraints.

Midland County Judge Michael Carpenter later emailed Midland County officials to release Marden on bond that evening. Marden was at the hospital.

"If Mr. Marden recovers he is to report to District Court to review his bond after is release from the hospital," an email with a 7:44 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, time stamp, states.

The Saginaw News obtained a copy of the judge's email from Midland County via FOIA request.

An email sent Feb. 11, 2015, about Jack Brian Marden.

Investigation 'cleared'

The Mecosta County Sheriff's Department investigated the incident, according to a Feb. 20 incident report document The News received from Midland County that labels the incident as "cleared."

Investigator Mark Sabin arrived on Feb. 16 and spoke with jail officials and reviewed materials given to him by Midland County officials.

Sabin interviewed 11 of the 12 inmates there at the time of the incident. He interviewed Lt. Derocher as part of the probe:

"Derocher stated that prior to entering, 'You could see Marden was in dire need of mental health'," Sabin's report states.

"Derocher stated the goal of the entry to the cell was to assist with medication administration by the nurse," the report states.

The decision was made to sedate Marden, the report states.

The Feb. 25 status of the investigation is listed as "Open, pending medical examiners reports."

Death at hospital

Investigators took photographs of Marden at the hospital, with tubes running to his nose and mouth.

Marden died Feb. 13, and Dr. Kanu Virani performed an autopsy Feb. 15 at Mid Michigan Medical Center in Midland.

Cardiovascular disease with sudden cardiac arrest and severe congestive heart failure is listed under the findings section of the report, along with "severe reflux esophagitis."

"He suddenly collapsed. There are no physical injuries. The manner of death is natural," Virani wrote in the opinion section of the autopsy.

Toxicology shows he tested positive for THC, an active ingredient of marijuana.

In the days after her husband was jailed, Sharyl Marden said she went to the jail and was notified by an official that there was an incident with her husband and he was at the hospital.

Marden said she did not find out that her husband's death involved an altercation at the jail until June 2015, when she spoke about the case with an attorney who obtained records of the case.

"I lost it," she said. "I cried my eyes out."

Before that time, Marden said she believed what someone told her at the hospital, she said, that her husband suddenly collapsed before he was hospitalized.

Jules Olsman of Detroit-area law firm Olsman, Mueller, Wallace & MacKenzie filed the lawsuit on behalf of Sharyl Marden.

"This guy is in jail clearly having an emotional issue, he has no weapons, he's no threat to himself or officers," Olsman said, questioning why jail officers entered the cell and why a supervisor allowed the incident to continue.

Olsman said he gathered information after meeting with Marden in August, sending Freedom of Information Act requests to Midland County.

"We're on the first page of a 100-page novel here," he said about the case.

Marden's jail record includes medical alerts for Marden such as bottom bunk/bottom floor and minimal dairy products. He had three stents in recent years, jail records show, and Marden's wife confirmed.

A plastic orange drink container, a syringe and vial, orange jail jumpsuit and Marden's orange jail shoes are among the items taken from the cell after the incident. It does not elaborate on the syringe found in the cell.

Olsman said cases like the civil rights case he filed on behalf of Marden often end with resolutions or verdicts "well into the seven figures."

The suit asks for damages for extreme pain and suffering, severe mental and emotional distress, embarrassment, medical expenses, exemplary damages, costs and attorney fees.

The suit asks for punitive damages under federal law and for all damages allowed under Michigan's Wrongful Death Act including reasonable medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses. It seeks compensation for the pain and suffering, while conscious, undergone by the deceased during the period intervening between the time of the injury and death; and damages for the loss of financial support and the loss of the society and companionship of the deceased.

'I want justice'

Friends and family gathered to celebrate Marden's life on a Saturday afternoon at the Midland VFW following his death. Marden was not a military veteran.

Besides his wife, Marden leaves behind a son, Bradley J. Schanck; daughter, Cherie A. Kerns, and two grandchildren, all of Midland.

They had plans to renew their vows after 25 years of marriage but never made it, Sharyl Marden said while running her eyes across a board of photographs of her and her husband smiling and posing in front of waterfalls and lighthouses.

She made the photo board for his funeral.

"I want justice for my husband," Marden said. "He can't speak for himself, so I'm speaking for him."

Midland County has 21 days to answer the complaint after they receive the document, which is dated Dec. 31.

-- Brad Devereaux is a public safety reporter for MLive/The Saginaw News. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+