Lawsuit filed against Lake County Sheriff

A group of former and current Lake County officers filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Jay Doyle and three other officers on Feb. 21. Allegations include unlawful conduct, violations of the First, Fourth and 14th amendments, two allegations of racketeering in the 2010 election for Lake County sheriff, and alleged actions against the plaintiffs for attempting to report violations of federal law.

The plaintiffs, Terry Leonard, Steven Kendley, Michel Gehl, Ben Woods, and Levi Read said they would have preferred not to file a lawsuit in the case. They claim to have been subjected to a hostile work environment, denied promotions, reprimanded, and demoted for their legal and justified actions.

The lawsuit was filed as the department faces several state investigations into its officers behavior and after a contested 2010 election in which Doyle defeated Kendley.

The state Department of Justice has undertaken separate investigations of Doyle for obstruction of justice and of former undersheriff Karey Reynolds for perjury.

Reynolds resigned from his position on Jan. 27.

The Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council also has multiple ongoing investigations into Lake County law enforcement.

The Lawsuit

The first count of the lawsuit alleges defendants Doyle, Michael Sargeant, Dan Duryee and Dan Yonkin violated the plaintiffs’ free-speech rights. This violation was allegedly done in retaliation to actions such as Kendley running for Lake County Sheriff and the other plaintiff’s support of Kendley.

The second count of the lawsuit claims Doyle and Yonkin conspired to violate Leonard’s rights to due process and protection from unlawful search and seizure. This includes the claim that Leonard’s free-speech rights were violated when his personal computer and computer equipment were seized prior to the election for Lake County sheriff.

The plaintiffs allege it was in an effort to silence the information on Leonard’s website that pointed to the supposedly unlawful conduct being reported to authorities by the other plaintiffs.

Doyle and Yonkin’s warrant was based on a series of emails between Leonard and other people, which were provided by an anonymous source whom Doyle knew “to be a reliable informant.” That anonymous informant has since been allegedly revealed to be former deputy Pat O’Conner, who had been working undercover for Doyle.

No charges were ever brought by the sheriff’s department against Leonard. He filed for the return of his property on Feb. 1, 2011 and it was returned nine days later.

However, Yonkin copied the contents of Leonard’s computer without informing him before it was returned. The lawsuit alleges the warrant did not authorize searching the contents of Leonard’s computer and that the department still has an illegal copy of its contents.

The lawsuit also alleges the warrant allowing the contents of the computer to be searched was not applied for until May 6, 2011, approximately three months after the computer was returned to Leonard.

Other causes for retaliation by the plaintiffs were because the defendants reported actions taken by the defendants that they believed were in violation of federal laws.

The illegal actions the lawsuit alleges took place include that Duryee illegally altered a rifle, which was registered to the sheriff’s department, into a machine gun and that Duryee was placed in command of the Lake County SWAT teams because he falsely claims service in the U.S. Marines.

Duryee’s claim that he served in the U.S. Marines is part of the ongoing investigations by The Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council.

The plaintiffs also reported Lake County officers took ammunition donated to the Sheriff’s department by a private citizen and alleged Doyle, Sargeant, and Duryee’s group, “The Coyote Club,” of game-poaching.

Kendley, Woods, Read, and Gehl have received written reprimands from Doyle. Woods, Gehl, and Read were suspended without pay, Doyle reportedly told Gehl it was because of their allegations against the department, according to an article in The Daily Inter Lake last week.

There are also two claims of racketeering in the lawsuit.

The first claim alleges that the defendants conspired with “criminal purpose” to illegally hinder or prevent the plaintiffs from reporting criminal activity by members of the department, “specifically, the unlawful killing, poaching and interstate transport of illegally taken game.”

The second claim alleges that the defendants conspired to harm the plaintiffs by interfering with their legal employment or livelihood.

Sheriff Doyle’s Response

Lake County Sheriff Jay Doyle released his response to the lawsuit on Feb. 22. Doyle stated he was disappointed by the legal action.

Doyle said it was “premature” as of that time for him to comment on the lawsuit and allegations filed against him and the other defendants.

“They have not been retaliated against,” Doyle told the Associated Press on Feb. 22. He said the legal action sidestepped normal channels.

He also said none of the plaintiffs have talked to him about the issues.