Manslaughter charge dismissed against Oklahoma sheriff

ENID, Okla. – A manslaughter charge has been dismissed against an Oklahoma sheriff for the death of an inmate who was confined in a restraining chair for more than two days.

The charge against Garfield County Sheriff Jerry Niles was dismissed Friday by a judge who ruled that prosecutors didn’t show that Niles committed a crime.

Niles’ daughter-in-law, former jail administrator Jennifer Niles, and jailers John Robert Markus and Shawn Galusha also face manslaughter charges in the June 2016 death of Anthony Huff.

The judge declined to dismiss charges against those three. Special prosecutor Chris Boring said he will appeal dismissal of the charge against Jerry Niles, who is on paid suspension.

The state medical examiner’s office listed Huff’s probable cause of death as chronic alcoholism. Huff had been arrested for public intoxication.