Idaho Supreme Court: Canyon woman may pursue claim against ISP over crash investigation

The Idaho Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of a Canyon County woman by reversing a district court’s dismissal of her claim against Idaho State Police. Jackie Raymond has alleged that ISP interfered in its own investigation of a crash in which a Payette County sheriff’s deputy traveling at high speed hit and killed her father.

A district court judge had dismissed Raymond’s claim of “tortious interference” by ISP, saying that Idaho does not recognize such a claim.

The Idaho Supreme Court disagreed, saying, “(T)his Court explicitly adopts the tort of intentional interference with a prospective civil action by spoliation of evidence by a third party. “

Raymond’s case now goes back to 3rd District Court.

“On behalf of my client, Jackie Raymond and her family, we express our deep appreciation for the Idaho Supreme Court and Justice Bevan’s thoughtful analysis,” Nathan Olsen, Raymond’s attorney, told the Statesman on Friday. “Now Jackie will finally have an opportunity to seek justice for the wrongful and hurtful manner in which certain individuals within the Idaho State Police, including some high administrators, interfered with and attempted to alter the investigation into her father’s horrific and unnecessary death.”

Olsen also said the decision “sets a precedent for future conduct, and a warning to others who conduct investigations and handle sensitive evidence ... “ He said the “tragic death of Barry Johnson” will help provide much-needed reform.

Idaho State Police said on Friday it is still reviewing the ruling and it had no comment.

Fatal crash, lawsuits, whistleblowers

On Oct. 18, 2011, Payette County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Sloan was responding to a 911 call and was driving at 100 mph or more, with his lights and sirens on, when he struck Barry Johnson’s 1983 Jeep as Johnson began to turn left off of a remote stretch of U.S. 30 near New Plymouth.

Gem County Prosecutor Richard Linville determined that Johnson was not to blame for the fatal crash — Sloan was. Linville charged the deputy with felony vehicular manslaughter.

But less than two months before trial, in March 2013, Linville dropped the vehicular manslaughter charge. He said conflicting ISP crash-investigation reports and the untrustworthy conduct of the state trooper who led the investigation undermined his ability to prosecute the case.

Raymond sued both ISP and Payette County for wrongful death and tortious interference. A judge dismissed ISP from the lawsuit while allowing the case against Payette County to go forward.

Payette County paid Raymond $150,000 in June 2018 to settle the lawsuit.

In August 2018, Raymond asked the Idaho Supreme Court to resurrect her other claim: that Idaho State Police interfered with the crash investigation to such an extent, a prosecutor was forced to drop criminal charges against the deputy. That, Raymond says, left unanswered the deputy’s culpability and made it more difficult for the family to prove liability in a civil suit.

“ISP was dismissed by the district judge because he decided that Idaho does not recognize a civil claim for what we alleged they did,” Raymond’s attorney told the Statesman at the time.

The Idaho Supreme Court ruled that Raymond had standing to bring such a claim.

“When all inferences from the facts alleged are drawn in Raymond’s favor and considered true, a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that but for ISP’s alleged misconduct, Officer Sloan would have been convicted of manslaughter,” Idaho Supreme Court Justice Richard Bevan wrote.

ISP’s handling of the Sloan investigation has already cost it at least $1.3 million.

Two state police investigators who worked on the Sloan crash, Fred Rice and Brandon Eller, later sued ISP. Both alleged that they were ordered by command staff to shape the report to protect the deputy, and suffered retaliation when they did not go along.

Rice retired. Eller still works at ISP.

Rice’s case was dismissed by an Ada County judge in October 2015, with the judge writing only that the evidence offered “no genuine issue of material fact.”

Eller’s case went to trial in 2017. An Ada County jury found in his favor and awarded him $1.5 million. The judge reduced the award to $1 million, but Eller appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court over the award reduction.

In a unanimous May 24, 2019, opinion, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that a district judge erred in reducing the jury’s award because the state’s whistleblower statute trumps its tort claim statute. There is no cap on whistleblower claims in Idaho.

The Supreme Court remanded the Eller case to Ada County for a partial new trial regarding damages solely under the Whistleblower Act. That trial had been set for Dec. 10, but to avoid another costly trial, both sides agreed in August to end the case for $1.29 million.

“Government employees should be able to stand up against misconduct and corruption within their agencies,” Eller stated in August. “With my case over, I hope ISP’s leaders internalize these principles, as I know I will continue to strive to do so each day I wear my badge. Without the whistleblower laws, the people of Idaho are unable to ensure full government accountability.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2019 at 2:21 PM.