A Nevada attorney who has represented the family of an Orofino man who died in an officer-involved shooting has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Clearwater County Sheriff Chris Goetz.
Stephen P. Stubbs, in association with Boise attorneys Nathan R. Starnes and Joe Frick, claims in a 12-page document that Goetz violated Stubbs’ First Amendment free speech guarantee by removing comments Stubbs made on Goetz’s Facebook page.
Stubbs claims Goetz “first censored and then blocked (Stubbs’) polite and public questioning of the integrity of the investigation and why the sheriff had not released the body camera footage (from the incident). In this way, the sheriff’s contorted and dishonest account of his officer’s deadly aggression towards a mentally ill man could remain dominant.”
Stubbs represented the family of Michael J. Trappett, of Orofino, who died Jan. 31 after allegedly threatening two Clearwater County deputies with a knife. The incident was first investigated by the Lewiston Police Department. Latah County Prosecutor William W. Thompson eventually concluded that the officers’ actions were legally justified.
Stubbs is asking the court for a jury trial and for unspecified monetary damages and attorney fees. (Lewiston Tribune)
