Prosecutors fail to reach consensus on fatal shooting of Vancouver Police Officer Donald Sahota

A statewide panel of prosecutors tasked with reviewing the Jan. 29 fatal shooting of Vancouver police Officer Donald Sahota by a Clark County sheriff’s deputy was unable to reach consensus on the “reasonableness” of the deputy’s use of force.

Now, it will be up to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to decide whether Deputy Jonathan Feller should face criminal charges.

“This was an advisory opinion from five outside prosecutors. Now that our office has received this opinion, we will be meeting internally to discuss the opinion and render our own opinion within one to two weeks,” Clark County Prosecutor Tony Golik said in a phone interview.

The 11-page opinion was publicly released Wednesday; it was authored by the Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The panel, through the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, comprised of the elected prosecutors from Lewis, Pend Oreille, Island, Garfield and Clallam counties.

Sahota, 52, was mistakenly shot and killed at his home near Battle Ground during a manhunt for an armed robbery suspect. Deputies were pursuing Julio Segura, 21, of Yakima, from his immobilized car to Sahota’s house.

Sahota, who was off duty, struggled with Segura in his driveway and was stabbed three times. Sahota was pursuing Segura toward his house when Feller shot him.

Segura is facing murder and attempted murder charges, among others, in Clark County Superior Court. His trial is set for later this year.

The panel concluded that Feller’s use of deadly force may have been warranted against Segura, based on his alleged conduct.

“While it seems clear Deputy Feller intended to use deadly force against the actual suspect, that is not what happened. As a result, Officer Sahota is dead,” the panel wrote.

In considering the totality of the circumstances, the panel said some members believed Feller should have taken the time to verify his intended target. While others concluded it was not unreasonable for him to believe lethal force was immediately necessary, and the man at Sahota’s door was Segura, not Sahota.

The Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team investigated the shooting. The panel said it appears all of the guidelines for an independent investigation were met.