The federal court in Pocatello has been told that when a Pocatello Police sergeant shot and killed a man in January, the sergeant broke the man’s constitutional rights. The case was brought by Matthew Planer’s estate and Planer’s mother. It says that Sgt. Rich Sampson, Officer Breyvon Johnson, Police Chief Roger Schei, and the city of Pocatello violated many of Planer’s rights.
Planer was shot and killed at the scene by Sampson while a probe into a disturbing peace claim was going on. A group led by the Idaho Falls Police Department looked into the shooting as part of the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force. Jessica Clements, public information officer for Idaho Falls police, says that once the investigation is over, a report is sent to the local prosecutor’s office. That office then chooses if the shooting was legal.
EastIdahoNews.com has asked the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office about that decision and will change this story as soon as they hear back.
The lawsuit, which was filed on June 14, says that the defendants broke ten laws. These include wrongful death by violating the rights of the Fourth Amendment, wrongful death by negligence, wrongful death by negligent entrustment, wrongful death, and battery, two types of unlawful seizure in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, unlawful seizure by excessive force, failure to train and supervise, lack of policy or policy and practice that are unconstitutional, and failure to step in.
A spokeswoman for the city of Pocatello told EastIdahoNews.com, “The city of Pocatello does not comment on pending litigation.”
The case is based on something that happened on January 27, 2023. Around 12:30 p.m., police were called to an apartment building on West Center Street to find a disturbance. The caller told police that Planer went to her apartment, knocked on the door, and took her phone when she opened it. She said she could forcefully take it back and that Planer was acting strangely.
After six days, Schei held a news conference to talk about the shooting. He said that Planer was acting strangely from the moment he opened the door. The police chief said Planer was walking back and forth in the flat and acting strangely.
According to the case, the 911 caller’s claims could not be proven.
It is said in the claim that Planer was “minding his own business” before the fight. The caller came out of her apartment and took a picture of him while he was sitting on a chair outside of his apartment. He was angry that the woman was invading his privacy, so he took the phone from her but then gave it back before going back to his apartment.
The claim says that the person who filed the report later admitted that Mr. Planer did not touch her. The caller told the police that she was going to press charges, so Sampson and Johnson went to Planer’s apartment to talk to him. Planer, on the other hand, refused to answer any questions.
The claim says Sampson “illegally placed himself in the doorway of Mr. Planer’s apartment,” making it impossible for Planer to leave or close the door.
The police asked Planer to show his ID, which he did by showing a state ID card. The claim says that at that point, neither a ticket nor a warrant had been served.
Planer asked both cops several times to leave his house, but they refused. Instead, they walked into the doorway and continued to block Planer from leaving or closing the door.
The claim says that Sgt. Sampson kept using his body to stop Mr. Planer from closing the door until Mr. Planer had no choice but to close the door on Sgt forcefully. Sampson, which forced Sgt. Sampson is out of the apartment. At that point, the police told Planer he would be getting a ticket and asked him if he would rather stay in his apartment or go to the police car to wait for it. He decided to stay in his room.
The lawsuit says that Sampson and Planer waited in the flat while Johnson got the ticket. The lawsuit claims that Sgt. Sampson refused to give Mr. Planer his ID back and started to scold him, telling him that he was fed up with his rude behavior and wanted Mr. Planer to stop insulting him. “Once Officer Johnson went downstairs, Sgt. Sampson showed Mr. Planer how he really felt by yelling, scolding, and beating him up.”
The claim says that Sampson gave Planer “illegal orders” to be quiet in his apartment, and Planer had to follow them.
It says in the case that Sgt. Sampson’s actions led to an illegal seizure of Mr. Planer in his own home. “Once more, no warrant had been issued, and there is no warrant exception.” Instead of letting Mr. Planer go and getting a warrant or another way to issue the citation, Sgt. Sampson kept yelling at Mr. Planer inside the apartment, which was clearly against his authority and a violation of Mr. Planer’s constitutional rights.
Planer allegedly “grabbed an object” from the kitchen sink while Sampson was near the doorway. The object was a medium-sized kitchen knife. He backed out of the room and pulled out his gun.
The suit says that the object was dropped once Sgt. Sampson left Mr. Planer’s room. The claim says that even though Planer dropped the “object,” Sampson called him a “motherf****r” and shot him “in the center of the chest.”
The claim says, “Sgt. Sampson did not tell Mr. Planer to drop the object or put his hands in the air.” “… Mr. Planer was killed by Sgt. Sampson without a valid reason. Sampson violated Mr. Planer’s constitutional rights many times before using excessive force, which was also illegal.”
Schei says that Planer took the knife out of the sink, which made Sampson move back and give the knife room to move. Schei said at the news conference that the cop and Planer were only a few feet apart, which put the officer’s safety at risk.
Schei went on to say that both cops tried to save the life but were unsuccessful.
The lawsuit says that Planer’s mother has since been hurt by “severe emotional distress, medical bills, funeral expenses, loss of income and financial support, pain and suffering, loss of familiar relationship, loss of consortium, loss of services, and loss of support.”
The claim says Sampson violated Planer’s constitutional rights, which include the right to due process and the right not to be searched or taken without a warrant. Johnson is said to have failed in his “duty to step in and stop Sgt. Sampson from violating Mr. Planer’s constitutional rights.” The claim says Schei and the city of Pocatello failed to provide the right training.
Even though Sampson has been involved in about six officer-involved shooting investigations, the city and Schei “continued to employ Sgt. Sampson, permitting him to carry a firearm” even though they “should have known that Sgt. Sampson is likely to use a firearm in such a manner as to create an unreasonable risk of harm to others.”
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The case doesn’t say exactly how much money is being asked for in damages, but it does say that the amount is more than $10,000 and asks for a jury trial. A date for the first meeting has not been set yet, but Chief District Judge Lynn Windmill has been given the case.
