Summary judgment sought in shooting

SANDPOINT — Attorneys representing the city in a federal lawsuit over a deadly shooting are moving to nullify claims that Sandpoint Police violated the woman’s civil rights and protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Counsel for the city moved for summary judgment on the claims on Jan. 24, U.S. District Court records show. The city argues those claims need not be tried because there are no material issues of fact and the court can decide them as a matter of law.

Jeanetta Riley, 35, was shot and killed in a confrontation with officers outside Bonner General Health on July 8, 2014. Riley, who was pregnant, allegedly advanced on officers while holding a knife and was shot after refusing commands to drop the weapon.

Riley’s’ family filed for damages against the city for allegedly failing to train officers involved in the shooting regarding an individual’s constitutional right to be free from excessive force. The plaintiffs further argue Riley was a member of a class of protected persons due to a mental health diagnosis.

The city argues it and its police department are entitled to summary judgment because the plaintiffs cannot show it had a policy or established custom of failing to train its employees, according to the motion. The department has a training policy it followed, which includes field training.

“Plaintiffs’ claim for relief includes a constitutional allegation against all city officials, but fails to identify a specific policy and fails to identify, articulate or even mention what policies caused the constitutional deprivation of Jeanetta’s rights,” Peter Erbland, the city’s counsel, said in the motion.

Erbland further argues that the ADA claim should be nullified because there is no evidence Riley was diagnosed with a mental illness based on depositions of the fathers of Riley’s children and her husband.

“As testified to by the men who knew and lived with Jeantta Riley during the 15 years prior to her death, Jeanetta Riley did not suffer from mental health issues or a mental impairment sufficient to bring her within the protections of the ADA,” Erbland wrote.

The city moved to grant granting qualified immunity to officers Garret Johnson, Michael Valenzuela and Skylar Ziegler to shield them from liability, but U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled in 2017 that the excessive use of force violated Riley’s Fourth Amendment rights.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.