DETROIT -- She told a jury that she is afraid of police and will never again wear orange.

It's the color of jail inmates.

Sue A. Letterman said the experience at the Saginaw County Jail when guards forced her to strip in a cold, dirty cell humiliated her.Letterman testified Friday in U.S. District Court that she ended up in jail, 208 S. Harrison in Saginaw, when police arrested her on suspicion of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

She is one of four plaintiffs who testified in the so-called "naked detention" case against Saginaw County. Justin D. Anderson, Joshua Fuller and Matthew J. Starkweather also testified. All of the plaintiffs were in jail for drunken driving, and all testified they caused a commotion.

Sheriff Charles L. Brown, who came to power in 1998, has said the jail's policy of detaining unruly inmates naked ceased in 2001 after five years in operation.

Attorneys for the sheriff maintain the practice began in 1996 after an inmate hung himself with his jail jumpsuit in a segregation cell.

Letterman, of Birch Run, said that on Sept. 21, 1999, she was combative, disruptive to jail guards and was upset because officers refused to let her call her daughters to let them know where she was.

"It's like no one was listening," said Letterman, 55.

She said she grabbed a roll of toilet paper in the holding cell and threw it to get someone's attention.

The guards, three males and one female, then opened the door and forcibly escorted her down a narrow hall to a segregated cell, she said.

"One male officer said 'you take your clothes off, or we'll take them off for you,' "

Letterman said. Fearing what would happen if she didn't comply, she said she disrobed in front of the officers.

Letterman said the cell was cold, dirty, and the toilet seat had urine stains. She said the officers refused to give her a blanket, so she huddled down.

In 2001, 74 plaintiffs filed lawsuits claiming that jail officials removed them from the general population, placed them in segregated areas and strip-searched them.

This week, 10 plaintiffs settled their cases through mediation. Authorities have not revealed the amounts of their payouts. Judge David M. Lawson, who is presiding over the trial, dismissed 13 suits because the litigants didn't keep in touch with their lawyers. The judge has not set a date for the remaining plaintiffs to try their cases.

Anderson told the jury of two men and six women that Frankenmuth police officers took him to jail on drunken driving charges in September 2000. While in a holding cell, he said authorities questioned him about a missing girl.

"I was angry," said Anderson, a 29-year-old auto technician who lives in Bridgeport Township. "I was already scared for being arrested. They started questioning me about the girl. I had no knowledge."

Anderson said he became verbally abusive to the three male guards, and they grabbed him, removed him from the holding cell and took him to the segregated room.

He said they told him to remove his clothes. He did, saying, "I was afraid that they were going to beat me."

Anderson said the cell was dirty and cold, and the officers refused to give him a blanket.

He said he wanted to press charges against the officers, but his attorney at the time, which he didn't name, wasn't interested in pursuing the case.

Fuller told jurors that when he was in jail in November 2000 the guards refused to let him make a phone call.

Fuller, 26, of Saginaw said he kicked the cell door. He said three officers opened the door, entered the cell and told him to remove his clothes or they would do it.

One of the guards then sprayed mace in his eyes, pushed him to the ground and started taking his clothes off, Fuller said.

"While they were taking my clothes off I started to help them," he said.

After sitting on the dirty cell floor, Fuller said one of the guards asked him if he was doing OK, and he said he was fine. The guard responded with a laugh and said "good, you can stay in longer," Fuller said.

Fuller said he started banging on the door when he heard a male voice coming from a vent. The voice told him to do pushups to keep warm, he said.

He said he also took paper off the walls and laid on them and curled up to keep warm because the guards refused to give him a blanket.

"It was very embarrassing," Fuller said.

Starkweather testified that he was in jail June 11, 2000; he was disruptive and giving the guards a hard time because he wanted to know when they would release him.

Two guards entered the holding cell and removed him, he said.

"I knew I was in trouble, but I wasn't sure where I was going," said Starkweather, 31, formerly of Thomas Township and now lives in Bath. "I thought I was going to get beat up."

He said he was scared and was apologetic to the guards, but they continued escorting him down the hall to the segregation cell where they ordered him to remove his clothes.

He said he abided by the order and begged for the return of the clothes, but the guards ignored him.

"I just couldn't believe that was happening to me," said a teary-eyed Starkweather. He said his rights were violated, he was disgusted, afraid and ashamed of what happened to him.

Plaintiffs attorney Michael L. Pitt of Royal Oak told jurors the case is about damages his clients shouldn't have had to expose their naked body to strangers, which violates their civil rights. Each plaintiff sat in the dirty cells for at least five hours, he said.

"This was an enormous injustice," Pitt said. "What happened to them was unspeakable."

Bloomfield Hills attorney James E. Tamm, who represents Saginaw County, told jurors that the jail's policy was unconstitutional.

"It was wrong, and it was no an appropriate policy," he said.

"The issue is whether or not they had damages," Tamm said. "Their rights were violated, but what was the damage?"

The plaintiffs will not meet their burden of proof to prove they suffered injuries, he said.

The trial was to resume Monday when the county will begin calling witnesses.