Court grants more time, additional experts in Sullivan County wrongful death lawsuit

GREENEVILLE — A joint motion to extend expert disclosure deadlines and to call in additional experts in a wrongful death lawsuit involving Sullivan County Sheriff's Office and Ballad Health was filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Tennessee this week. The motion was granted by U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia R. Wyrick on Wednesday, giving each party 45 more days to make and rebut expert disclosures. The plaintiff's expert disclosures are now due on June 20, whereas the defendants' expert disclosures are due on July 20. The plaintiff's rebuttal expert disclosures are due on Aug. 3. Both the plaintiff and defendants have the opportunity to call an additional three experts. Court documents state the parties have exchanged initial disclosures and "some written discovery." Background On May 22, 2024, Matthew Stoddard was arrested for aggravated criminal trespassing in Sullivan County, according to court documents. He and his family had reportedly entered a stranger's home when they got lost traveling from Chattanooga to Ohio. Stoddard, 41, died on July 13, 2024, about seven weeks after a police struggle at Bristol Medical Regional Center. Stoddard's wife, Carlie Stoddard, filed a lawsuit nearly one year after the incident on May 20, 2025. She alleged in the suit that Sullivan County deputies used excessive force that ultimately led to his death — accusing officers of beating her husband, restraining him too tightly and inflicting psychological abuse. The lawsuit names Sullivan County, Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Jeff Cassidy and 10 deputies as defendants. It alleges that deputies used excessive force against Stoddard while he was experiencing a mental health crisis. An amended complaint filed on Sept. 17 adds Ballad, Wellmont Health System and Wellmont Medical Associates as defendants. Wellmont Health System and Wellmont Medical Associates no longer exist independently, having merged with Mountain States Health Alliance in 2018 to form Ballad Health. The updated complaint alleges that Ballad contributed to Stoddard's death through medical negligence, stating that hospital staff failed to monitor Stoddard's well-being and did not give him his prescribed medication. Six Rivers Media previously requested and received copies of Stoddard's autopsy report and body camera footage from interactions between Sullivan County deputies and Stoddard. Stoddard's autopsy, performed three days after his death by Dr. Emilie Cook at the William L. Jenkins Forensic Center in Johnson City, listed his manner of death as homicide and states the cause of death as "complications of sudden cardiac arrest and anoxic brain injury in the setting of police restraint." The scheduling order, issued on Nov. 20, 2025, states the trial is scheduled to take place on Feb. 16, 2027.