Claim filed in Stanwood man's fatal shooting by police

The family of a Stanwood man who was fatally shot by Everett police in June are hoping their multimillion-dollar civil claim against the city and the Police Department will change the way officer-involved shootings are handled in Snohomish County.

Niles Meservey's family filed the claim for $5 million to $15 million, a precursor to a lawsuit, in Snohomish County Superior Court on Tuesday. Tanda Louden, of Holdingford, Minn., Meservey's daughter, believes taking the case to court is the only way she will find out what really happened outside the Chuckwagon Inn in Everett on June 10 when her father was killed.

Officers were called to the North Everett restaurant after witnesses reported seeing an apparently drunk Meservey, 51, trying to leave in his car, said attorney Paul Luvera. Police used their patrol cars to box in Meservey's Corvette and shot him with a Taser. When Meservey's car lurched forward, an officer shot him with a handgun seven times.

Meservey, who was unarmed, died at the scene.

According to reports at the time, a woman was knocked down when the car hit the fence, but she later told investigators she was startled and tripped, Luvera said without identifying her. An autopsy determined that Meservey had a blood-alcohol level of 0.26 percent, more than three times the 0.08 legal threshold for intoxication.

Louden said she and her family have been trying to get answers from Everett police, including the name of the officer involved and a copy of the incident report, since Meservey's death, but have received no response. Her attorneys are concerned officers were not justified in their use of deadly force.

"You would have to conclude that shooting somebody for being drunk is justified," Luvera said during a news conference Tuesday in Seattle.

Luvera added it would be natural for the vehicle to lunge forward after Meservey was Tased because the man's muscles were probably contracting from the voltage, causing him to lose control of the car.

A city of Everett spokeswoman said the city had received a copy of the claim Tuesday and officials were reviewing it.

Rebecca Hover, a spokeswoman for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, said the multiagency team that investigated the shooting gave its report to Deputy Prosecutor Mark Roe on Aug. 31 and would not comment further.

Roe said he is reviewing the police investigation into Meservey's death and will determine whether criminal charges should be filed against the Everett police officer who fired the fatal shots. Roe said the case file recently arrived at his office, which he says is quicker than most police investigations into officer-involved shootings.

Roe said he has filed criminal charges against police and corrections officers in the past.

"I just try to keep my eye on the ball; was a crime committed here? Should somebody be charged?" Roe said.

Louden has 60 days from when the claim is filed to file a lawsuit.

Luvera said he would like to see an inquest called but doubts there will be one. There hasn't been an inquest into a deadly police shooting in Snohomish County in more than a decade, Luvera said.

In King County, inquests are fact-finding trials before a six-person district court jury. The focus of the trial is answering a set list of questions generated by the prosecutor and attorneys for the police and the slain person's family. The main question posed to inquest juries is whether an officer had reason to fear for his or her life when deadly force was used.

But in Snohomish County, an inquest is called only if Medical Examiner Norman Thiersch has questions on cause and manner of death. In 10 years, Thiersch hasn't called for an inquest, said Carolyn Sanden, spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office.

Roe said he has talked to Thiersch about Meservey's case and believes "there's no purpose behind an inquest."

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.