Suit questions officers
July 12--SALT LAKE CITY -- Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings says a wrongful death lawsuit filed in federal court against his office and three police agencies is a "work of fantasy and fiction by someone with a bar license."
The family of William C. Oakden IV claims police used excessive force when they shot and killed the 30-yearold man July 9, 2010, outside his residence at the Trade Winds Mobile Home Park in Bountiful.
The lawsuit was filed Monday, the two-year anniversary of Oakden's death, by J. Scott Cottingham on behalf of William C. Oakden III, and Karlie Ann Miller, who is the guardian of W.O., a minor.
The suit seeks at least $1 million in damages, attorney costs and fees.
Court documents state Oakden was able to get "the drop on both officers," despite having a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 and his shirt falling over an airsoft pistol tucked in his waistband.
"There are too many problems with the officers' stories for them to be believed," according to the court documents.
Oakden was shot after a neighbor called 911 to report that Oakden had blood on him, was holding a knife and was threatening suicide.
In January 2011, the Davis County Attorney's Office cleared Woods Cross Police Officer Adam Osoro and West Bountiful Police Officer Trent Wass, saying the two were justified in the use of deadly force after Oakden provoked them by showing a blackhandled gun and firing it at them.
Rawlings said Wednesday that Cottingham had contacted his office in 2010 wanting to know why the investigation was taking so long.
Cottingham was given access to the evidence and investigators and met with prosecutors several times, which was "unprecedented," Rawlings said. "We had nothing to hide."
One concern Cottingham had with the investigation was the length of time it took for the state crime lab to determine the ballistics of the bullet that killed Oakden, Rawlings said.
Craig Webb, an investigator with the Davis County Attorney's Office, said the case took as long as it did because the state crime lab had only one ballistics examiner at the time and that individual was on military duty in Afghanistan.
The bullet was sent to Afghanistan to be examined, Webb said.
Rawlings said the investigation, like that of any police shooting, is done to determine if a homicide was committed.
"We screen the cases under the criminal code," he said.
Also listed in the lawsuit are Bountiful, West Bountiful and Woods Cross police agencies.
West Bountiful Police Chief Todd Hixon and Woods Cross Police Chief Greg Butler both said they could not comment on the lawsuit because it is pending litigation.
Bountiful police did not return a call seeking comment. Calls to Cottingham for comment were not returned.
Copyright 2012 - Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah
