Stephen J. Nelson, 42, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Missoula, alleging civil rights violations, assault and battery, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, gross negligence, emotional distress and defamation.
The 29-page claim names as defendants Missoula County Sheriff Mike McMeekin, Undersheriff Jerry Crego and four other high-ranking sheriff's department officials. It also lists former Lake County sheriff Bill Barron and the Lake County jail in Polson, where Nelson spent 109 days in solitary confinement, according to the claim.
The felony rape and sexual assault charges were dismissed in July 2005 in exchange for Nelson's guilty plea to a single misdemeanor count of negligent endangerment.
Nelson's attorney throughout the criminal proceedings, Dave McLean, has said the allegations never would have held up in a jury trial because of a lack of evidence and credibility issues.
McMeekin, who has been aware of Nelson's lawsuit since it was first filed last month in Missoula District Court, said Friday that he hasn't had an opportunity to go over the finer points of the claim. The lawsuit was transferred to federal court on April 1.
The Missoula County Sheriff's Department began investigating Nelson after a woman told officers that the man sexually assaulted her on Jan. 6, 2005, after a night of drinking at Fred's Lounge and the Trail's End Bar on West Broadway.
When those allegations emerged, the county reopened a previous investigation into Nelson's behavior. That case surfaced in October 2004, shortly after a letter to an inmate at the Missoula County Detention Facility was intercepted. Written by a former employee of the jail, the letter claimed Nelson had raped her at his home sometime in May 2004, while Nelson was an active-duty deputy.
Nelson alleges in his lawsuit that the sheriff's department should have employed an outside agency to conduct the investigation.
Reporter Tristan Scott can be reached at 523-5264 or at tscott@missoulian.com.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)