Columbia Falls seeks dismissal of stun-gun lawsuit
The Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 years, 1 month AGO
HELENA — Columbia Falls police officers were justified in using a stun gun on a 77-year-old Alzheimer’s patient who later died, an attorney for the city said in a court filing Tuesday.
Stan Downen had wandered away from the Montana Veterans Home before the confrontation.
The filing by attorney William L. Crowley is in response to a wrongful death lawsuit by the family of Downen, who died three weeks after he fell and struck his head on the pavement during the encounter with two police officers on June 1, 2012.
Downen’s family accuses the veterans home and police of negligence, assault, battery, malpractice and civil rights violations.
The lawsuit in Helena District Court says Downen had advanced dementia from Alzheimer’s and he had been admitted to the veterans home on May 31, 2012. The next day, the veterans home staff called police when they were unable to stop him from leaving the grounds.
Downen refused to cooperate with the officers, and one of them used a stun gun on him. He fell and struck his head on the pavement.
Veterans home nursing staffers initially told Downen’s family he had tripped and fallen while running, and the family only learned of the encounter with police two days later, the lawsuit said.
Downen died on June 24.
The police department admits one of its officers used a stun gun on Downen, but the officers acted within their duties, Crowley said. Downen’s use of profanity and his threatening to throw rocks at the officers justified the response, Crowley wrote.
“Mr. Downen’s own negligent acts or omissions caused the damage or injuries to himself and his heirs,” Crowley wrote in the filing.
The two responding officers ordered Downen to drop the rocks he was holding and Downen refused, Crowley wrote.
One of the officers used the stun gun when Downen drew his arm back as though to throw a rock, he wrote.
Nothing the officers did was motivated by evil intent or reckless indifference to Downen’s rights, Crowley said.
The city is asking a federal judge to dismiss the case.
Downen served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He was an ironworker for nearly 30 years before retiring in 1998.
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