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View Full Version : $9.3 MILLION 3 sue Malheur County, sheriff, deputies




Suzanimal
12-29-2014, 07:11 AM
No crime. They lost everything.:(:mad:


VALE — Malheur County, Sheriff Brian Wolfe and several deputies are among those named in a lawsuit seeking more than $9 million in damages for the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs, Sweeney Gillette; his wife, Kendra Gillette; and her father, Richard “Ric” Hoyt, are claiming civil rights violations, unlawful search and seizure, slander and defamation, among other claims. Their lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court Sept. 26 and demands a jury trial.

Sweeney Gillette buys and sells cattle. His father-in-law has a trucking business and helped ship Gillette’s cattle. They allege that members of the sheriff’s office, who suspected them of being cattle thieves, spread stories about them that caused them to lose their business and, ultimately, leave Malheur County to start over in Oklahoma.

They’re seeking economic damages of $6 million for Sweeney and Kendra Gillette and $300,000 for Hoyt. They also want non-economic damages in the amount of $1 million for emotional distress for each of the plaintiffs, punitive damages in an amount to be determined by the jury against each of the individual defendants, as well as attorney fees.

In all, that amount totals more than $9.3 million, Malheur County Counsel Stephanie Williams said.

Their claim to the court is that the defendants’ conduct resulted in destruction and loss of their business, income and home and reputation. Neither of the Sweeneys nor Hoyt were ever charged with a crime.

Their lawsuit says the county’s now-defunct Oregon Livestock and Rural Crime Investigative Association illegally monitored their activities. The sheriff’s office suspected the Sweeneys were stealing or switching cattle.

The lawsuit cites “an affidavit [that] makes much about [the] Plaintiffs’ purchasing cattle at kill plants, sale yards and processing plants. The affiant then speculates, contrary to fact and law, that somehow the resale of the cattle must constitute a scheme to sell stolen cattle.”

The lawsuit does not clarify what that scheme looked like, and county and sheriff’s office officials declined to comment.

Malheur County is being represented by Tom Armosino, Medford, on behalf of Citycounty Insurance Services. The Sweeneys and Hoyt are being represented by Foster Glass in Bend. Neither responded to requests from the Argus for comment and additional information.

The lawsuit says the sheriff’s office obtained a search warrant to monitor their property for two years with a pole camera. Deputies also obtained a warrant that allowed them to search the Gillettes’ property and veterinary records. The affidavits used to obtain the search warrants were not based on fact, according to the lawsuit.

Rather, they “are filled with speculation, beliefs, based on conjecture, deductive leaps, and misinformation to the magistrate,” the suit says.

Another warrant, according to the lawsuit, allowed deputies to stop and search the trucks hauling Gillettes’ cattle “at will,” which in some cases led to cattle being shaved so their brands could be inspected and, ultimately, in some cattle’s deaths.

In addition to the searches, the lawsuit accuses deputies of “openly slandering” the Gillettes, which led to a loss of business. The suit says deputies told the Gillettes’ bank they were being investigated for cattle theft and the bank should protect itself.

The Gillettes were never arrested, but based on that information, the bank seized their cattle assets, refused to renew their loan and foreclosed on the loan, which was not in default, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says more people than just sheriff’s deputies were at fault. The document names area brand inspectors as defendants as well. It alleges Kendra Gillette’s support of moving from traditional branding to a computerized system turned inspectors against her.

“She believes the subsequent interest in running them out of business was at least in part, retaliation for her advocacy to make Oregon a modern ‘no brand state,’” the lawsuit says.

In addition to brand inspectors, sheriff’s deputies and the sheriff himself, the lawsuit names Malheur County as a defendant. The county was notified in 2012 of potential tort liability — an entity’s legal obligation to a victim of civil injury — but failed to act.

Initially Malheur County Commissioner Don Hodge said he was unaware of the lawsuit and could not comment. Commissioner Larry Wilson said he had heard about the lawsuit but had not seen a copy and did not have enough information to comment.
The commissioners have since been advised by their legal counsel to not make further statements about the legal action.

http://www.argusobserver.com/news/sue-malheur-county-sheriff-deputies/article_9bc4bef0-8e49-11e4-a0bc-33ab4f36cf21.html

osan
12-29-2014, 08:25 AM
The Gillettes were never arrested, but based on that information, the bank seized their cattle assets, refused to renew their loan and foreclosed on the loan, which was not in default, the lawsuit says.

Why are they not naming the bank as well? I do not grok.

sparebulb
12-29-2014, 08:50 AM
Why are they not naming the bank as well? I do not grok.

I assume that they are leaving the bank out at this time to insure their cooperative testimony.

What is grok? Is it like a twerk?

Suzanimal
12-29-2014, 08:53 AM
I assume that they are leaving the bank out at this time to insure their cooperative testimony.

What is grok? Is it like a twerk?

:eek:

No, thank God. It's geek speak for understand, I think. I'm not fluent in geek so don't take my word for it.

tod evans
12-29-2014, 09:37 AM
What is grok?

I know what grog is does that count?

Ender
12-29-2014, 10:05 AM
I assume that they are leaving the bank out at this time to insure their cooperative testimony.

What is grok? Is it like a twerk?

Grok is a famous word from the sci-fi novel "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein- and IMHO, the greatest sci-fi of all time. :)

It means to fully understand intuitively- physically, mentally, and emotionally.

libertyjam
12-29-2014, 10:08 AM
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, read it. No education is complete without reading the most famous science fiction there is.

sparebulb
12-29-2014, 10:10 AM
Thanks for the info.

I grok now.

I still don't twerk.

osan
12-29-2014, 06:31 PM
What is grok? Is it like a twerk?

Great Goo... don't you youngin's read anything good these days?

OK, go to a used book store or abebooks.com and get yourself a copy of "Stranger In A Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein. You will then know what is "grok".

And no, Suzanimal, it is not geek-speek, though I might see how you would think that it was.