Family Of Robert Thomas Sr. Files $25 Million Claim

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By By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

The claim alleges Robert L. Thomas Sr. reached for his gun in self-defense the day off-duty Deputy Melvin Miller shot him.

Story Published: Apr 7, 2003 at 12:29 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 1:00 AM PDT

Family Of Robert Thomas Sr. Files $25 Million Claim
SEATTLE - The estate of a black man gunned down by a white off-duty deputy filed a $25 million wrongful-death claim against the officer and the King County Sheriff's Department on Monday, the one-year anniversary of the shooting.

The claim, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges Robert L. Thomas Sr. reached for his gun in self-defense the day Deputy Melvin Miller, dressed in blue jeans and a baseball cap, ordered him at gunpoint to drive his truck out of a neighborhood near south suburban Renton.

It wasn't until after he had fired his weapon, striking the 59-year-old Thomas in the chest and Thomas' adult son in the right hand, that Miller identified himself as a deputy, the claim alleges.

The defendants, including Miller's wife, have 60 days to respond to the claim before it becomes a lawsuit.

"We have not seen the documents, so we're not prepared to comment in any great detail," sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Kevin Fagerstrom said on behalf of the department and the Millers.

Last fall, an inquest jury found Miller had reason to fear for his life when he shot Thomas the afternoon of April 7, 2002. King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng decided not to file criminal charges against Miller, a 19-year veteran of the sheriff's office at the time of the shooting. A sheriff's shooting review board also decided Miller's actions were justified.

"This entire incident was a tragedy for everyone involved," Fagerstrom said. "We still firmly believe that Deputy Miller did not do anything wrong."

The claim seeks $20 million for Robert Thomas Sr.'s death and $5.25 million for the wounding of his son. In addition to wrongful death, it alleges assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, civil-rights violations, negligence, defamation and slander.

Plaintiffs include the estate of Robert Thomas Sr.; his son, Robert Thomas Jr., and daughter, Robbie Thomas, who was appointed representative of her father's estate; Chayce A. Hanson, another son of Robert Thomas Sr.; and Robert Thomas Jr.'s girlfriend, Gina Munnell.

The Thomases were shot on a Sunday morning as they sat in a parked pickup truck with Munnell, drinking and listening to music. At the request of a neighbor, Miller, who lived nearby, had approached to the truck to determine why it was stopped - partially blocking a road - and asked them to leave.

What happened next is in dispute.

Miller said he opened fire after the Robert Thomas Sr. pulled out a handgun and aimed it at him. The younger Thomas and his girlfriend said the deputy drew first.

Both sides agree Miller didn't identify himself as a deputy until after the shooting.

The claim alleges that Thomas, his son, and Munnell were denied immediate medical attention despite repeated requests.

"By failing to take any action to aid (Thomas Sr.) and by precluding others from taking any action to aid (him), the defendant acted recklessly and with callous disregard for (Thomas Sr.'s) rights," it says.

Maleng's decision not to file criminal charges against Miller outraged many in the black community and led to several protest rallies.

"I don't know what world they were in when they reviewed the evidence," the Thomas family's lawyer, Bradley Marshall said Monday, "but it certainly wasn't the world that most of the rest of our society is in. The evidence clearly reveals that the conduct not only of Mr. Miller, but the sheriff's office, was wrong."