Stanwood man's family to file $15 million claim in fatal police shooting

SEATTLE — The family of a Stanwood man shot seven times from behind by Everett police plans to file a $15 million claim today against the city of Everett.

“Without doing that, I'm not going to get any answers,” Tanda Louden said.

The Minnesota woman wants to know what happened to her father, Niles Meservey, 51*, and why police resorted to deadly force.

The claim for damages, which puts the city on notice that it may face a lawsuit, will be filed by Seattle-based trial attorney Paul Luvera. It will claim the killing was reckless, unjustified and that police were grossly negligent, Luvera said.

Everett police on Monday said the officer involved, an 11-year veteran, was returned to paid leave earlier this month. The officer, whose name has not been released, was first placed on leave June 10 immediately after the shooting. He returned to work this summer but was restricted to desk duty, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

Everett Police Chief Jim Scharf and city officials decided earlier this month to place the officer back on paid administrative leave, Goetz said. He declined to comment further, calling it a personnel matter.

A special task force of homicide detectives, the Snohomish Multi Agency Response Team or SMART, led the investigation into the shooting.

The SMART investigation was completed on Aug. 31. It's now on Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Mark Roe's desk.

“It doesn't take 15 minutes to read,” he said.

He said he's carefully reviewing the police reports, interviewing detectives and visiting the scene.

“Our job is to look at the facts of the case, apply the law and decide if a crime has been committed,” a process that takes time, Roe said.

Once Roe's evaluation is complete, he'll invite Meservey's family to discuss his findings, he said.

A victim's advocate from his office already has reached out to Louden.

Luvera said the $15 million claim is an estimate until more information is known. The Seattle attorney is nationally known for winning large settlements for his clients.

Among other cases, Luvera won $12 million for the survivors of the wife of former Tacoma Police Chief David Brame. He killed the woman before turning the gun on himself. The suit also required Tacoma to implement changes in its training and procedures, Luvera said.

Luvera said he's puzzled at the seemingly slow pace of the Meservey investigation and why it took detectives nearly 90 days to forward the case.

Timing is a matter of perspective, Roe said. He's seen investigations into police-involved killings take longer than a year to complete. The Meservey case is the first of five police-involved killings in Snohomish County since November to reach Roe's desk.

SMART investigations can take time for several reasons, said Rebecca Hover, a spokeswoman for SMART.

Detectives must follow leads presented by the evidence they uncover, she said. And evidence often is sent to the Washington State Patrol crime lab for analysis, which can take months.

The crime scene was contained and there were few witnesses on June 10, Luvera said.

“It isn't CSI,” he said. “I don't know how you get a simpler, more straight forward scenario.”

Meservey reportedly was drunk on June 10 as he went to leave the Chuckwagon Inn. Police were called. Officers reportedly blocked Meservey's white Corvette with patrol cars to prevent him from driving off.

There's no indication Meservey at that point was trying to flee, Luvera said.

Some kind of altercation followed and officers used an electric stun gun on Meservey as he sat behind the wheel, the Corvette's engine running.

The car lurched forward smashing into a chain-link fence and a bystander fell down, witnesses said.

It's unclear if the jolt of electricity caused Meservey to step on the gas.

Police fired as many as eight rounds, Luvera said.

Meservey was mortally wounded. A photo of the driver's seat shows it riddled with bullet holes. Three bullets penetrated Meservey's back, and he had four more gunshot wounds, according to an autopsy report by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office and provided by Luvera's office.

Meservey's blood alcohol level was .26, or more than three-times the legal limit to drive, the autopsy said.

“What relationship does the amount of alcohol he had in him have to do with why he was shot seven times while he sat in his car, blocked?” Luvera asked.

Meservey's daughter heard about the killing a day after her son's 10th birthday celebration.

These days, the 10-year-old's eyes often fill with tears and he says he missing his “Grandpa Niles,” the boy's parents said.

Tanda Louden, 31, said she still is sorting through her father's paintings, drawings and other belongings.

With so many unanswered questions about her father's killing, it's hard to move on, she said.

After police pulled Meservey from his car, an officer and a bystander tried to revive him.

The bystander started to recite the Lord's Prayer, Luvera said. Meservey's last words were his attempt to follow along with the sacred text, the lawyer said.

“I'm hoping that things will change, that nobody else will be hurt again,” Louden said. “I want accountability along with the facts. I want to know why.”



Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.

*Correction, Sept. 22, 2009: This article originally used an incorrect age for Niles Meservey.