A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit alleging a Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office deputy used excessive force during a January 2024 arrest. The court ruled Deputy Cody Looney was entitled to summary judgment after finding the evidence failed to support the claims brought against him.
U.S. District Judge James P. Jones issued the ruling in favor of Looney, ending a civil rights lawsuit filed by Mackenzie Poston of Meadowview without the case proceeding to trial.
Poston, who represented herself, filed the lawsuit in February 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. She alleged Looney violated her constitutional rights during her arrest.
In her complaint, Poston claimed Looney “forcefully violated my 4th Amendment, putting me under arrest for obstruction and handcuffing me and putting me into his police car.”
She also alleged Looney “violated my 8th Amendment by striking me in the face three times, blacking both eyes, chipping my tooth, busting my nose and charging me with assault on a law enforcement officer for defending myself.”
Poston sought $50,000 in damages and asked the court to suspend Looney from his duties as a law enforcement officer.
According to court records, Poston was charged with three counts of assault on a law enforcement officer, attempting to disarm an officer of his stun gun, obstruction, resisting arrest by threat or force and public intoxication. She later pleaded guilty to assault on a law enforcement officer and attempting to disarm the deputy. She was sentenced to eight years in prison, with seven years suspended, and placed on two years of supervised probation.
Looney denied the allegations through his attorney, Nathan Schnetzler of Roanoke. Court filings state Poston was lawfully placed under arrest but became combative, spit on the deputy and attempted to grab his holstered firearm. The filings contend any force used during the arrest was reasonable under the circumstances and authorized by law. Looney also denied striking Poston in the face.
In his opinion, Jones wrote that the evidence presented left no genuine dispute requiring a trial.
“A court must grant summary judgment ‘if the movant (the person who moves for the action – ed.) shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law,’” Jones wrote. “A genuine dispute exists ‘if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.’”
Jones concluded the record overwhelmingly contradicted Poston’s account of the arrest.
“Summary judgment is appropriate where the opposing party’s version of events is so utterly discredited by the record that no reasonable jury could have believed him. And based on the record before me, I conclude that this circumstance is present here.”
The judge also cited Poston’s booking photograph as evidence supporting his decision.
“Poston’s booking photograph,” Jones wrote, “completely belies her claim that the defendant struck her in the face.”
The ruling dismisses all of Poston’s claims against Looney and brings the federal civil lawsuit to a close.
