Trooper Sues, Wins Against Motorist -- Doctor Who Alleged Assault Must Pay For Defaming Officer

What started as a $66 speeding ticket along a stretch of Highway 2 has amounted to a $15,000 defamation verdict against a Seattle doctor.

A King County Superior Court jury has found Dr. Woodrow Thompson defamed a state trooper, who had cited Thompson for speeding, by trying to have the trooper prosecuted for attempted murder.

The jury deliberated less than two days before deciding Thompson, an anesthesiologist, had maliciously damaged the reputation of Trooper Davis Richmond. Richmond is a 19-year veteran who works out of the State Patrol's Wenatchee office.

Thompson first contacted the governor's office and then wrote to a Chelan district-court judge and prosecutors there. Each time he claimed the trooper had assaulted and tried to kill him.

"I will pursue charges in court and am seeking out others who have been abused by him and his fellow troopers," one letter read.

The trooper filed suit after Thompson indicated he was prepared to press on with the claims to the state attorney general's office, said Richard Eadie, the trooper's attorney.

Thompson's initial complaint was investigated and dismissed by the State Patrol's internal-affairs unit.

The case of an officer suing a complaining citizen, while rare locally, is apparently not unprecedented.

The doctor's attorney, James Lobsenz, said in court papers police agencies are becoming more aggressive in suing citizens who file complaints and suits against them.

The litigation has a chilling effect on citizens who want to report improper police behavior, said Lobsenz, because they may wind up defending themselves in court.

But Eadie said the trooper was looking to stop what he considered harassment, not cash in on a big judgment. Eadie did not even suggest a dollar amount when he addressed jurors in closing arguments.

"Public officials, including police officers, should not have to endure false claims of this kind," Eadie said.

"Trooper Richmond filed the lawsuit a short time after a series of letters by Dr. Thompson indicated there might be no end to it."

Richmond stopped Thompson and his wife just west of Leavenworth, Chelan County, on July 1, 1989. He gave Thompson a speeding ticket for allegedly going 67 mph in a 55-mph zone.

Thompson said he not only wasn't speeding, but the encounter marked the third time in three trips to Chelan County in less than a year that a trooper had stopped him and his wife. He wasn't cited the first two times.

The doctor drove away after receiving the ticket but soon turned around to discuss it further with the trooper.

Richmond had stopped another car on the shoulder of the highway when Thompson found him. While the trooper was writing a citation in his car, Thompson began talking to the second motorist.

"I told him if he wanted to contest it, maybe we could do something together," Thompson testified.

He said Richmond quickly approached and began yelling at him. Richmond, a much bigger man, pushed the doctor, unclipped the strap on his gun and yelled something like, "I ought to blow your brains out," Thompson claimed.

Thompson, who acknowledged he showed bad judgment in returning to the scene, said he was able to calm Richmond only when he pointed out witnesses were present.

Richmond said he may have forcefully warned the doctor not to interfere with the traffic stop, but he denied the other claims. The other motorist testified he didn't see what Thompson claimed.

It wasn't until about six months after the stop that Thompson began claiming the trooper had threatened to kill him. He testified he was so shaken by the experience that it took him that long to report it.

Lobsenz argued the doctor felt the threat was real and was exercising his right to complain. The trooper hadn't been damaged because the letters were not being taken seriously, the defense attorney said.

Thompson and his wife filed counterclaims for emotional distress they say the confrontation caused them. The jury Tuesday unanimously rejected the claims.