Deadlines extended in federal suit against Sheriff’s Department

Mother of Lyons man killed by deputy claims force was excessive

By Vicky Wedig

Editor

A federal case that claims a Walworth County sheriff’s deputy used excessive force in the shooting death of a Lyons man in 2012 could be at a standstill until November.

A U.S. District Court judge last week granted an extension until Oct. 17 for discovery in the case and until Nov. 28 for evidentiary motions.

Both parties – the mother of John Brown and the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department and two of its deputies – requested an extension of the June 2 deadline for discovery citing the lack of availability of an expert witness for Nancy Brown.

Nancy Brown filed the suit in the Eastern District of Wisconsin court in Milwaukee on May 8, 2013. She is the mother of John Brown, who died May 5, 2012, at his Town of Lyons home after being shot twice by Walworth County sheriff’s deputy Wayne Blanchard.

The Walworth County District Attorney’s Office investigated the matter in 2012 and found that deadly force was justified.

In the civil suit, Brown claims Blanchard used excessive force and another responding deputy, Christopher Such, failed to intervene.

Brown claims the Sheriff’s Department allowed its officers to arrest people without probable cause, use excessive force and fail to give proper medical treatment to suspects. Further, according to the complaint in the case, the Sheriff’s Department failed to train its employees, hired substandard officers and didn’t investigate the incident or discipline the deputies.

Brown is seeking monetary compensation for her son’s medical and funeral expenses, her attorney’s fees and punitive damages. No specific dollar amount is listed.

The incident

Nancy Brown called 911 at 12:03 a.m. May 5, 2012, asking for help for her son who had a knife, was suicidal and had locked himself in his bedroom at the Meadow Lane home he shared with his mother. Brown said her son was bipolar, had not taken his medication, had a history of self-harm and was cutting himself on the wrist with the knife, according to the lawsuit.

Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home at 12:11 a.m., and Nancy Brown gave Blanchard a key to the room where John Brown, 22, was locked inside. Blanchard told Nancy Brown he wouldn’t use the key, he would simply kick down the bedroom door, the suit contends.

During the district attorney’s investigation, Blanchard said he kicked in the door rather than using the key because John Brown was armed, and Blanchard didn’t want to give Brown time to prepare to hurt anyone behind the door.

According to the civil complaint, Blanchard stayed in the house while Such went outside, looked into the room through an exterior window and saw John Brown sitting in a chair facing away from the bedroom door, smoking a cigarette and drinking a beverage. Such communicated his observations to Blanchard via police radio at about 12:15 a.m., according to the complaint.

Before Such came back into the residence, Blanchard had removed his service weapon from its holster and kicked the door to John Brown’s bedroom causing it to open, according to the complaint. When Blanchard kicked in the door, Brown stood up from the chair and turned to face the door, and Blanchard aimed his gun at Brown, according to the complaint.

At that point, Such arrived and positioned himself behind Blanchard. Blanchard kicked the door a second time to swing it open again, and aimed his gun at Brown again while Such drew his Taser and aimed it at Brown, according to the complaint.

The civil suit contends that John Brown remained in the center of the bedroom motionless in a standing position, and at 12:17 a.m. Blanchard fired two shots at Brown, one of which struck him in the left side of the chest and one in the left side of the neck.

During the DA’s investigation, Blanchard and Such said Brown approached Blanchard with the knife, moving in an upright position, and was within 5 to 6 feet of Blanchard when the deputy fired the shots.

Then-District Attorney Phil Koss said officers are trained that being within 21 feet of an individual with a knife is a deadly zone.

According to Nancy Brown’s lawsuit, John Brown immediately fell to the floor upon being shot, and Blanchard moved Brown and handcuffed him. Brown was alive but not moving at that point, according to the complaint. Brown was taken by ambulance to Aurora Lakeland Medical Center where he died from his injures at about 1:15 a.m.

The allegations

In her suit, Nancy Brown alleges that the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department created and allowed policies or practices whereby officers arrested individuals without probable cause, used excessive force when conducting those arrests and failed to give proper medical treatment to suspects who had been placed in custody, including John Brown.

The suit also contends the department failed to adequately supervise, discipline and train its employees including Blanchard and Such in the appropriate use of force.

Further, it claims the department hired officers who were substandard and not properly trained and disciplined including Such and Blanchard who lacked defensive tactics training on the use of firearms.

The suit claims the department allowed practices whereby its officers failed to intervene to stop other officers from using excessive force. It says the department failed to conduct its own internal investigation into the officers’ excessive use of force, failure to provide medical care for Brown and failure to use audio recording equipment during their interaction with Brown, and failed to discipline the deputies.

The suit claims those actions denied Brown his Fourth and 14th Amendment rights and resulted in his death.

According to the suit, Blanchard used excessive force, his conduct was unreasonable, and his acts were undertaken intentionally, willfully, with malice and with reckless indifference to Brown’s constitutional rights.

Such knew Blanchard’s actions constituted excessive force and were unreasonable, and he had a realistic opportunity to intervene but failed to do so, the lawsuit contends.

In an answer to Brown’s complaint filed June 4, 2013, the Sheriff’s Department, Blanchard and Such deny the allegations and counter with claims, among other things, that the defendants are immune from suit.