Attorneys representing the families of two men who were fatally shot by deputies from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office are pushing to combine the separate lawsuits into one in federal court.
On Feb. 2, Mark Lindquist, one of two lawyers involved in the lawsuits, announced the motion to combine cases against Clark County for the deaths of Kevin Peterson Jr. and Jenoah Donald. Last year, separate suits were filed on behalf of the families of Peterson and Donald in the Western District of Washington court.
Lindquist is joined by Angus Lee, a Clark County-based attorney who recently joined Lindquist as co-counsel for the lawsuits, a release from Lindquist’s law firm stated. The attorneys’ main argument is the Clark County Sheriff’s Office “has a pattern and practice of excessive force by deputies.”
Peterson was shot while fleeing deputies after an attempted drug bust in Hazel Dell in October of 2020. In February 2021, Donald was shot by a deputy during a traffic stop in Hazel Dell after being pulled over for a broken tail light. Both men were Black.
In January 2022, an off-duty Vancouver Police officer, Donald Sahota, was also fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy at his home after an armed robbery suspect arrived and fought with Sahota at the residence.
“(Sheriff’s) deputies have wrongfully shot and killed three individuals, including a Vancouver police officer, in an 18-month period. The fact there has been no termination, discipline, or retraining after these shootings is highly relevant to pattern and practice,” the brief states.
The lawsuit from Donald’s family filed in February of 2022 alleges wrongful death, assault and battery, negligence, and deprivation of civil rights. The suit from Peterson’s family filed in May alleges wrongful death, negligence, excessive force and brutality, unreasonable seizure, and deprivation of familial relationship against the defendants.
The law firm’s release noted sheriff’s deputy Jonathan Feller was one of the deputies involved in Peterson’s shooting and was also the deputy who fatally shot Sahota.
“If Clark County had disciplined or retrained Deputy Feller after the wrongful shooting of Kevin Peterson, Officer Sahota would likely still be alive today,” Lindquist stated in the release.
Criminal charges in all three cases were not made following reviews by state prosecutors.
In July 2021, prosecutors from Lewis, Pend Oreille, Yakima, Pierce and Snohomish counties found sheriff’s deputy Sean Boyle had acted according to state law on law enforcement’s use of deadly force during the shooting of Donald. A month later, Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mary Robnett and Chief Criminal Deputy James Schacht concluded the deputies’ use of deadly force didn’t merit criminal charges in the death of Peterson.
Most recently, a panel of prosecutors from Pend Oreille, Lewis, Island, Garfield and Clallam counties were “unable to reach a consensus” as to whether Feller was justified in firing at Sahota. Following the Dec. 27 opinion, on Jan. 12 the sheriff’s office announced it had received a letter from Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik stating he would not file criminal charges against Feller.
Though no criminal cases were brought against the deputies, the civil lawsuits continue with the motion to consolidate being the latest development for both. Linquist and Lee argue that both cases “present an unusual procedural and factual scenario that calls for consolidation,” the release stated.
The release notes deputies with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office do not wear body cameras. It mentions Lee had led an effort to get a body camera initiative on the 2015 general election ballot.
The sheriff’s office is currently in the first stages of implementing a body camera program. The program derives funding from a .1% sales tax increase approved by voters in November.
