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Judge Tosses Wrongful Death Lawsuit

March 3, 2006

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who was shot to death in a 2003 confronta-

tion with Yakima police.

A lawyer for the family of Elvis Wayne Wilson - who repeatedly lunged at officers with a knife during the standoff - vowed an appeal.

U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley dismissed the case January 23, ruling Wilson's civil rights were not violated by Yakima police Officer Mark McKinney when the officer shot Wilson on August 11, 2003.

Wilson's family argued Yakima police have not been properly trained in the use of deadly force or ways to avoid it. The family's lawyer, Heidi Hunt, said the decision would be appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Police Chief Sam Granato said Thursday he had been instructed by city officials not to comment on the case because of the pending appeal.

The shooting culminated a sequence of events that began when Wilson, a parolee who had a history of petty crime, stole a shotgun from a neighbor's house. The gun discharged when his uncle tried to take it from him, injuring the uncle's hand.

Yakima County sheriff's deputies tracked Wilson, 38, to his brother-in-law's house on South Ninth Avenue, sparking the standoff.

Toxicology tests later revealed that Wilson had a blood-alcohol content of 0.26 percent - more than three times the 0.08 legal threshold for drunken driving.

McKinney shot Wilson after a 10-minute standoff in the front yard. Witnesses and audiotape evidence captured by a patrol car's video camera system corroborated official statements that Wilson repeatedly lunged at officers with the knife and challenged them to kill him.