Regional News
New Britton suit reportedly to involve only one defendant
Published Friday, November 27, 2009 at 08:14 AM
Attorney Maren Chaloupka...who represents Britton's mother Pat...had said after a federal suit had been dismissed on summary judgement that she would refile a similar case at the state level and planned to do it this week, but the paperwork had not been received by the district court office in Chadron by the end of the day Wednesday.
Pat Britton had sued the city of Crawford, then-Police Chief Rick Thompson, and Nebraska Game and Parks conservation officer Dan Kling...claiming negligence and a lack of proper training had led to her son's death and the violation of his civil rights.
Chaloupka implied the planned state court suit would include the same 3 defendants, but the Chadron Record newspaper says she told its reporter that the new lawsuit would include only the city.
Chaloupka thinks she has a good chance of winning in in the state courts, even though she lost at the federal level. She says her new suit will emphasize more heavily the argument that Thompson and Kling could have...and should have...avoided being in such a situation by taking a course of action different than confronting Jesse Britton.
Judge Smith-Camp's opinion says in part "while Thompson and Kling's decision to enter the building may have been unadvisable, and had a consequence that was tragic for Britton, a Constitutional violation cannot be found based on the theory that the acts of the officers 'preceding the seizure caused the circumstances which ultimately led to the need to use deadly force."
Terry Waite says a new suit will just drag out an incident he feels can be described only as "a tragedy"...adding that Thompson "has been vindicated not once, but twice, in two separate courts"...the federal court in the civil suit and a criminal case in Dawes County District Court, where he was acquitted in June of a 2nd-degree assault charge.
© 2008 The Nebraska Rural Radio Association. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Nebraska Headlines from AP
- Information:
- Weather
- |
- Markets
- |
- Tours
- |
- Promotions
- |
- Events
- |
- Funeral Notices
- |
- Photos
- © 2008 Rural Radio Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.