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Jury Could Hear Carlson Shooting Case

http://ipraudio.interlochen.org/CarlsonDecision.mp3

A federal judge has ruled in favor of former Grand Traverse County sheriff Scott Fewins in a wrongful death lawsuit that goes back to a 2007 police scene.

But it remains a question whether a deputy and sharp-shooter used excessive force when he killed Craig Carlson. That may go to trial this fall.

Craig Carlson died by a single bullet, after an all-night standoff with police at his home in Interlochen. He was 49. Three years after his death, and it's the final moments of his life that remain a mystery.

Conflicting Accounts
According to testimony from Deputy Charles Jetter, he could see through the scope on his weapon that Carlson had shouldered a gun, finger on the trigger, and that Carlson leaned out the window aiming for officers shielded by nearby trees. Jetter fired.

But there are conflicting accounts. Did Carlson make verbal threats? Did he actually put his hand on the trigger, or lean out the window?

The attorney for Craig Carlson's family has even argued Carlson may not have shouldered his weapon.

"Officers told different stories. They heard different things. They saw different things, and it casts a huge cloud on the killing of Craig Carlson," Grant Parsons says.

The facts are enough in question that a federal judge says a jury should weigh the evidence and decide what happened that night.

Jetter's attorney says it's not so strange to have competing testimony in a situation like this.

"A AK 15 assault rifle is being swung around and pointed at police officers and the suspect also has a Tech 9 strapped to his chest and two loaded pistols in his pocket and has made lots of threats to police officers that, depending on your perspective, where you were standing, what you could hear or couldn't hear, there's going to be some differences in the way that gets described. And the court felt that, under the circumstances, that's more properly left to the jury.

"I'm confident - we're confident - that, if in fact this does go to the jury, we will prevail. Deputy Jetter did the absolutely correct thing, absolutely lawful thing and we're confident that a federal jury will agree."

Other Defendants Dismissed
Jetter, who wasn't originally named as a defendant in the case, is now the lone defendant, and the lone question is whether he used excessive force in shooting Craig Carlson.

Judge Paul Maloney says other issues are so cut-and-dry in favor of law enforcement, they don't even need to face a jury. His ruling vindicates Grand Traverse County in the case, and former Sheriff Scott Fewins, as well as a Traverse City police officer who was in tactical command at the scene.

The judge says Fewins was in charge, and, though Fewins allowed officers discretion to use deadly force if necessary, he also never gave Jetter a direct order to shoot.

Cooke, who also represents Fewins and the county, says gone now are arguments that the scene was not organized, or run properly. The judge also dismissed the notion that officers should have had a warrant before using tear gas in Carlson's home.

"All of those things the court did not accept as a matter of law," Cooke says. "Frankly, we didn't think there was any factual support for that whatsoever."

A special prosecutor long ago ruled law enforcement had acted appropriately and no criminal charges were ever filed.

The federal judge's civil ruling came as a disappointment to Attorney Grant Parsons, who says his clients will get their day in court on behalf of their son and brother. But for him, as a civil rights attorney, the case was about something more.

"A lot of the societal good that comes from reviewing a SWAT killing like this, a strategic police killing of an individual, is it gives society a chance to see if their local police force is really doing a good job or not. And the court has basically said we don't have enough proof to challenge that," he says.

What Comes Next
The family now hopes to win a jury verdict in a September against Deputy Jetter. After that, Attorney Grant Parson plans to appeal the case against the county and former sheriff Scott Fewins.

Jetter will appeal right away, hoping to get the case dismissed before a jury is ever selected.