Federal judge chides police for search of home

A federal judge has ruled that several law-enforcement officers were wrong when they entered an Issaquah family's home without a warrant three years ago.

U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman ruled yesterday that even though the officers were seeking information about a serious crime, and even though they thought the family could have been in danger, they still needed a search warrant before entering the home.

"She said that there is no legal means for the defendants to prevail," said Kenneth Kagan, co-counsel for the family that filed the suit. "In other words, everything the police did was unreasonable, and there was no way a jury could decide in their favor."

The only question now, according to one of the family's attorneys, is whether or not the defendants will settle the suit and, if so, for how much.

Anne Bremner, who defended the officers, is considering an appeal.

"These are excellent officers who were acting in good faith to protect the public from a person who had committed very violent and serious felonies," she said.

Thomas Lisk, a Bellevue police officer, his wife, Cheryl, and their adult children, one of whom was a sheriff's deputy in Arizona, were at the family home on June 23, 2000, when seven officers — four Seattle police detectives and three King County sheriff's deputies barged into the home in the middle of the night.

Police were looking for Aristotle Marr, one of two men who robbed a Wells Fargo bank the day before. Marr's partner was killed in a shootout with police.

Marr had escaped by stealing a car and holding an elderly couple hostage.

According to court documents, police suspected that one of the Lisk sons, Troy, had ties to Marr and could help police find him.

When police showed up at the Lisk home on the Sammamish Plateau at about 3 a.m., they saw people awake inside, court papers say.

It turns out that another son, Chad Lisk, had been to the airport to pick up a friend and the two were just getting home when the police arrived.

Police saw the lights and movement inside the house and thought the residents could be in danger or that Marr was hiding there, Bremner said.

So, without permission or a search warrant, the four Seattle detectives and the three sheriff's deputies went in.

The police officers said they identified themselves as officers, but the Lisks said that all they knew was that men with guns were entering the house in the middle of the night.

Chad Lisk said he identified himself as a police officer and warned the entering officers that the search was illegal. He said he initially thought the group was there in retaliation for a recent arrest his father might have made.

Chad Lisk was arrested while he was comforting his crying mother, and was later released.

The judge ruled that the search and seizure was unlawful, that Chad Lisk was falsely arrested and that there was evidence of assault and battery during the arrest.

The judge also denied the police officers' contention that they should be granted immunity because of the severity of the crimes committed by Marr and because they were acting in good faith.