By John Howell
U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills last Tuesday issued an order dismissing a lawsuit brought by Como Police Chief Earl Burdette and assistant Police Chief Fay Pettis against Panola County, including Sheriff Dennis Darby.

“The court has been advised by counsel that this action has been settled,”the judge’s order states.
 It was issued following a four-and-one-half hour settlement conference between Canton attorneys Bradford J. Blackmon and Edward Blackmon Jr., representing Burdette, and Cleveland attorney Daniel J. Griffith, representing the county.

The lawsuit stemmed from a November 14, 2013 altercation at the Como Police Department where Burdette and Pettis accused Darby and several deputies of using force against them to take into custody the witness to a shooting that had occurred in Como a few hours before.

“It is resolved,” Griffith said Friday. Details of the settlement are confidential, the attorney said.