Troy Goode
The family of the Memphis man who died in Southaven police custody in July has filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.
The suit seeks damages in the death of Troy Goode from the city of Southaven, the Southaven Police Department, and the emergency workers on the scene at the time of his death.
Goode had taken LSD in the parking lot outside a Widespread Panic show in Southaven on July 18th. According to reports, he began acting erratically before the show, and his wife decided to drive him home. On the way there, she pulled into a parking lot on Goodman Road, and Goode got out of the car. A witness who observed his behavior called police.
When police arrived, Goode reportedly ran around the parking lot and even released a police dog from a van. Southaven police attempted to restrain Goode by hog-tying him, and Goode passed away at Baptist DeSoto Memorial Hospital, where he was transported by police.
The Mississippi state autopsy report blamed LSD for Goode’s death, but his attorney Tim Edwards has disputed that report. An independent autopsy ordered by Edwards found that the hog-tying position led Goode to struggle with breathing and eventually sent his heart into cardiac arrhythmia, leading to his death.
If Goode did actually die from taking LSD, he would be one of very few people to die from direct complications with the hallucinogen. Experts in the fields of hallucinogens and forensic toxicology have long disputed the possibility of an LSD overdose. LSD deaths are more commonly related to trauma experienced from hallucinations, such as when a person on LSD commits suicide or wrecks a vehicle.
