Perry County Circuit Judge Marvin W. Wiggins has dismissed most of the claims in Lucinda Shelton’s lawsuit against former Marion police officers Lonnie Glenn and Damien Steele and the City of Marion, but allowed the case to proceed on two federal civil rights counts seeking a combined $200,000 in damages.
In an order signed March 28 and filed March 29, Judge Wiggins granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss on all claims except Counts IV and V of the amended complaint, which were brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the federal civil rights statute. The dismissed claims include the original state law counts of assault and battery, malicious prosecution, and false imprisonment.
The March 30 jury trial has been continued. The case is now set for trial on September 21, 2026, with a pretrial hearing on August 18 at 9:00 a.m.
The two surviving counts, added to the case through an amended complaint filed in May 2025, allege distinct constitutional violations.
- Count IV alleges that the officers violated Shelton’s rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments by entering her home without a warrant, arresting her, and falsely charging her with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and harassment. Shelton alleges she has a constitutional right to be free from unlawful searches and seizures and to be secure in her person, papers, and possessions.
- Count V alleges a First Amendment violation, asserting that the arrest and false charges violated Shelton’s rights to freedom of expression, speech, association, assembly, and to petition the government for redress.
Each count seeks $100,000 in damages.
The ruling comes after weeks of last-minute motion practice by the defense. As reported by the Times-Standard-Herald last week, attorneys for the defendants filed two motions and a proposed order in late March asking Judge Wiggins to dismiss the case entirely before it reached a jury.
The defense had argued that the state law claims were barred because Shelton did not file the required notice of claim with the city, that the officers were entitled to state-agent immunity, and that the federal § 1983 claims were filed outside the two-year statute of limitations.
Judge Wiggins’ order does not explain his reasoning on any of the claims, and does not address why the § 1983 counts survived while the state claims did not. The defense had argued the federal claims were time-barred; the court’s decision to allow them to proceed suggests Wiggins may have found them timely or that the amendment related back to the original filing.
The underlying incident dates to Feb. 18, 2020, when Officers Glenn and Steele were dispatched to Shelton’s home on Aurelia Street in Marion.
According to the complaint, Glenn entered the home without a warrant, shoved Shelton over a chair and into a refrigerator, and handcuffed her. Shelton was charged with harassment, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. The Perry County Circuit Court granted Shelton a judgment of acquittal in May 2023, finding that no lawful arrest was being made and that Shelton had a right to resist.
The defendants have presented a different account, stating in affidavits that they were dispatched in response to 911 calls from the family of a minor girl who feared she was being held against her will, and that Shelton refused for approximately 40 minutes to allow the officers to see the minor.
Shelton is represented by Marion attorney Robert H. Turner Sr. The defendants are represented by Henry “Hank” Sanders of Chestnut, Sanders, Sanders, Pettaway & Campbell in Selma.
