AYERS FEDERAL CIVIL CASE UPDATED

Ayers federal civil case updated

A civil lawsuit filed in federal court by the widow of man killed by
drug enforcement officers has been delayed.

Abigail Ayers, widow of Jonathan Ayers, filed suit last year against
Mountain Judicial Circuit Narcotics Criminal Investigation and
Suppression Team (NCIS) officers Billy Shane Harrison, Kyle Bryant
and Chance Oxner, as well as other officials of the narcotics squad.

Resolution of the case has been delayed following the granting of
petition for extension. The petition was filed by attorneys on both
sides in the case.

"Upon joint motion by the parties, and for good cause shown, it is
hereby ordered that the discovery period in the ... civil action is
extended up to and including Feb. 19, 2011," states an order signed
by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Story.

The lawsuit, filed in March of 2010, seeks in excess of $5 million in
connection with the September 2009 officer-involved shooting death of
Jonathan Ayers during the course of a drug investigation.

Ayers was not a target of the investigation, according to NCIS
officer statements at the time of the incident.

On Dec. 18, 2010, a Stephens County Grand Jury found that the use of
lethal force in the shooting of Ayers was justified.

The civil lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Gainesville,
alleges that the officers acted in ways that would cause a reasonable
person to believe they were not police officers, but armed criminals.

"Just before shooting the decedent, defendants Oxner, Bryant and
Harrison through their joint plain incompetency, unconstitutional and
unprofessional conduct had unreasonably created a physically
threatening situation, for the decedent. Under these circumstances,
they cannot be immunized for the use of the deadly force which was
then employed against the decedent," alleges the civil complaint.

The complaint charges that Harrison did not have certification for
the use of his handgun, and that officers of the NCIS had not
received proper training in lethal force.

Alleging improper conduct as well as procedural errors and
administrative oversights, the complaint claims the Stephens County
Grand Jury's pronouncement of exemption from prosecution to be invalid.

As a part of the trial discovery process, attorneys for Ayers have
requested and been granted access to Harrison's psychological
records, subject to the limitations of a protective order issued by
Story this past September.

"Plaintiff (Ayers) has requested the production of the psychological
records from Mission Critical Psychological Services pertaining to
Billy Shane Harrison, and the defendants contend these materials (or
information contained therein) are or may be confidential, private
and privileged and object to the production of same in the absence of
a protective order limiting their use and dissemination," states the
protective order.

"The aforementioned documents may be reviewed by counsel for the
parties ... Neither the documents nor records nor their contents ...
shall be disclosed to or reviewed by anyone or discussed with anyone
other than counsel of the parties," the order specifies.

"The aforementioned documents and records shall not be used for any
purpose other than use in this pending litigation."

No trial date has been announced for the pending litigation.