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October 14, 2011 in City
Counterclaim filed against Mehring
Police chief’s attorneys file claim against detective for alleged malicious prosecution
Kirkpatrick
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Attorneys for Spokane police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick have filed a counterclaim of malicious prosecution against a detective who is suing the chief and the city over how he was treated by the department during a messy divorce more than four years ago.
Detective Jay Mehring’s wrongful termination and defamation lawsuit goes to trial Monday after Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor denied the defendants’ motion for a stay over the new complaint.
The allegation of malicious prosecution came earlier this month in response to Mehring asking the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office to investigate whether Kirkpatrick and city attorneys engaged in witness tampering in his $3.5 million lawsuit.
Mehring said the city refused to renew a contract with the department’s psychologist, Deanette Palmer, after she gave an opinion favorable to Mehring. Palmer had found that Mehring, who has been on paid leave since Sept. 9, 2010, was fit to return to duty.
The city has said it always intended to renew Palmer’s contract.
Kirkpatrick’s attorneys filed a counterclaim of malicious prosecution, saying the sole point of Mehring’s witness tampering claim was to put the chief at a disadvantage in the civil litigation and leak the matter to the media.
“Plaintiff knows full well that Chief Kirkpatrick did nothing to induce Dr. Palmer to not testify in this case,” according to the counterclaim.
Kirkpatrick declined on Thursday to comment on Mehring’s allegation or her counterclaim.
Mehring’s attorney, Bob Dunn, responded in court documents that “the criminal allegation must be resolved in Kirkpatrick’s favor before a claim of malicious prosecution can be brought.”
The claim and counterclaim come amid a legal case that began in 2007 when the police department charged Mehring with threatening the life of his now-former wife, Lisa Mehring, during their divorce. The detective was placed on unpaid leave.
In October 2008, after the detective was acquitted of the charges, Kirkpatrick reinstated Mehring with back pay. However, Mehring was demoted. Now he is suing over the city’s handling of his case.
In September 2010, the chief suspended Mehring after he wore his service pistol to a deposition also attended by Kirkpatrick.
This led to the psychological examination by Palmer, who found the detective fit for duty, the resulting accusation of witness tampering and the counterclaim of malicious prosecution.
Nevertheless, O’Connor ruled the civil trial would get under way as scheduled, with jury selection on Monday.
Rights panel poorly understood 
greenlibertarian on October 14 at 1:40 a.m.
Circus Act 1.5.
greenlibertarian on October 14 at 1:41 a.m.
Circus, Act 1.5.
brianrbreen on October 14 at 8:41 a.m.
Out of simple curiosity, who are Chief Kirkpatrick’s attorneys. As a tax payer I’d like to get some idea of what her representation is costing me.
jddavis on October 14 at 9:37 a.m.
“Kirkpatrick declined on Thursday to comment on Mehring’s allegation or her counterclaim.”
As a public employee using public funds to make a claim against someone, I want to know why Kirkpatrick feels she doesn’t have to make a comment.
If she is operating in an official capacity of her position and not in a personal matter, she needs to be open and forthright about the business of the City of Spokane.
Elkay on October 14 at 10:07 a.m.
@jddavis,
Why would she start being open and forthright now?
DickAdams on October 14 at 10:19 a.m.
Sounds to me as if Rocco Treppiedi rides again. Hi Ho Silver. Oh wait, there are more horses asses than horses, draw your own conclusion.
jddavis on October 14 at 10:36 a.m.
Elkay—good question. Perhaps the house of card falling will make her an unattractive candidate for her next job application.
Elkay on October 14 at 10:45 a.m.
Perhaps that same house of cards will do the same for
Mary F.A.Q. Verner and a few others.
brianrbreen on October 14 at 11:53 a.m.
@DickAdams
I suspect she is being represented by an out of Spokane law firm as is Chief Nicks in the Zehm case. I could be wrong, but it is something I would like to know, as the hourly rate is considerably higher for firms on the west coast than it is in Spokane.
I don’t have a problem with her being represented, I would just like to know if she has separate representation outside of the City Attorney’s Office. I suspect so, because she was named as an individual and the City was named as an entity. At least to me there is an obvious conflict of interest issue. You may remember that over my objection, the City Council approved a $75,000.00 expenditure for a Seattle law firm to represent Jim Nicks in the Zehm case. And perhaps you will remember Howard Delaney and Joe Shogan provided a response to my concerns, which by the way in my estimation was a joke.
The issue here is Dr Deanette Palmer’s call that Mehring was “Fit for Duty” she has been the shrink for cops for a long time along with someone else, and I guess has been right on every time except for the Mehring case when she went against what Kirkpatrick wanted.
The biggest thing for the community to understand is that administrators can be vindictive, and the” lie you die” concept only applies to the grunts.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have never spoken to Deanette Palmer, way back when and it was mandatory I refused and got away with it, everyone knew I was nuts anyway.
BTW, Jay Mehring is a good cop.
crossfire on October 14 at 12:33 p.m.
La la lala… La la lala.. Chief K’s world… La la lala… La la lala Chief K’s world…. Chief K loves her goldfish, her crayons too. Thaaat’s Chief K’s wooooorld.
kinda resembles him…a little
Elkay on October 14 at 12:42 p.m.
Not trying to sound snarky, but does anyone know from what city budgetary fund these bills get paid? General fund? Administration Fund? Annual Dunn Fund? Seriously, how are these bills going to get paid?
DickAdams on October 14 at 2:44 p.m.
brian, I sure do remember the 75,000 bucks. The city attorney frequently hires outside attorneys for work that should remain in-house. Its always gulls me. I might try and find out if Verner is represented by an attorney on the coast. Money is no object.
Elkay on October 14 at 3:49 p.m.
@DickAdams,
That would be great if you could find out more about what these trials are going to cost. I wouldn’t know where to start looking.
We’ve not only lost trust in our “leadership” … we have to pay for it as well. Too bad they can’t personally fund their own trials that they caused.
brianrbreen on October 14 at 3:57 p.m.
@Elkay
While I’m sitting here trying to follow the Zehm case on tweet or whatever they call it. I’m thinking to myself we have Mehring, a good cop, who after he was acquitted on a completely joke case apparently pushed by the Chief, and he made the mistake of telling the truth right after his acquittal. Then he is put back to work in the property crimes section then all of a sudden because she (the Chief) had to do a deposition and ducked it because even though she was armed as was he, she must have been scared out of her pants with all those lawyers there and that dangerous Mehring guy.
Just my perspective, even though Dunn had the sense to demand email interaction regarding the Mehring case and the parties involved and Judge O ‘Conner ( who is great by the way) ruled they get them. I suspect there will be a fight and an appeal primarily from the standpoint that what Rocco as the City Attorney said or any of the Chiefs Legal Council interaction is privileged. That’s all well and good and I understand the privilege and it is important, But what I would like to know is what the Chief in her emails said to the Mayor, the prosecutor, Mehring’s supervisors and all that kind of stuff.
My point quite simply Elkay is that in my opinion Chief Kirkpatrick is the worst Chief Spokane has ever had., and if people want to do “Spokane Nice” and aren’t willing to stand up and fire some one that needs it, then so be it.
Elkay on October 14 at 4:42 p.m.
@brianrbreen,
You always seem cool, collected and fair in these blogs — so your opinion of Kirkpatrick is one that I can respect, especially with your background.
F.A.Q. Verner is the one in the position to fire Kirkpatrick. She hasn’t, and probably won’t do it. So now the voters have a choice for a new mayor — or not.
In my opinion, Verner is the worst mayor I’ve ever experienced. Maybe this time the voters won’t be conned … but I wouldn’t book it.