Subject:  Suit filed in fatal U.S. Marshall shooting |
Author:
Chris
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 07/ 5/04 12:18pm
Flamboyant attorney files suit in fatal U.S. Marshal shooting
Tuesday, 29, 2004
By John S. Hausman CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
A federal lawsuit filed by Michigan's most famous trial attorney alleges the U.S. Marshal Service and two deputy marshals violated the constitutional rights of Leon Dandredge when a marshal shot him dead in a Muskegon home in August 2003.
Leslie Karum of Muskegon, the mother of Dandredge's youngest daughter, seeks damages from the deputy marshals, the marshal service and the U.S. government.
Karum sued last week in U.S. District Court's Western District of Michigan in Grand Rapids. She is represented by the firm of high-profile Southfield attorney Geoffrey N. Fieger, who ran for governor in 1998. Karum's local counsel is Kenneth Hoopes.
On Aug. 20, 2003, federal fugitive Dandredge, 35, was fatally shot in the face in the basement of a female friend's home at 1123 Pine. Dandredge was wanted on a warrant for parole violation. Two deputy U.S. marshals -- later identified as Mark Hessler and Ken Groenveld -- had gone to the home about noon looking for him.
According to an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Hessler shot Dandredge "out of surprise and fear," pulling the trigger of his handgun after Dandredge stood up from under a pile of clothing in a dimly lit basement laundry room. Groenveld was on the basement staircase when the shot was fired and did not see it happen.
The federal investigation, completed in March, concluded no crime was committed when Dandredge died. The marshal service then launched its own internal investigation to determine whether disciplinary action was warranted. No results of that probe have been released, according to Karum's attorneys.
"We're alleging that the marshals violated Mr. Dandredge's constitutional rights when they went to the basement and shot the guy in the head," said Paul Broschay, Karum's Southfield attorney. "It obviously was outlandish and irresponsible police procedure.
"The defendants were not properly trained and did not have the supervision or experience to permit them to safely apprehend those wanted on warrants or for other reasons," Broschay said.
The federal lawsuit names as defendants both marshals -- although it misspells both names, as well as Dandredge's -- and the U.S. Marshal Service and the United States of America.
The lawsuit asks for unstated damages in excess of $75,000.
It alleges the marshals violated Dandredge's constitutional rights in a variety of ways, basically by failing to "act prudently with reasonable care" and to "avoid the use of unnecessary, unreasonable, excessive and/or deadly force."
In the case of the marshal service and the government, the lawsuit alleges they failed to properly screen, supervise, discipline and train their officers.
Karum is the mother of Brianna Karum, Dandredge's 7-year-old daughter. If she is certified as the personal representative of Dandredge's estate, she will be the only party legally authorized to sue over his death. According to Hoopes, damage claims of other Dandredge family members or heirs would follow a successful conclusion of the personal representative's case.
The case is complicated by a legal dispute over whether Karum -- or Camellia Faye Thomas, the Arkansas mother of Dandredge's two older daughters -- is the proper representative of the dead man's estate. A Muskegon County probate judge is scheduled to hear that issue next week. His decision is expected to determine which of the two mothers is allowed to sue.
No matter which mother is certified, Hoopes said, all three children likely would benefit from a successful lawsuit. Other Dandredge relatives also would be eligible for damages, he said.
"We think it's important to keep (Karum) as the personal representative, given that she's retained arguably one of the top trial attorneys in the country," Hoopes said.
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 