Lawsuit alleges constitutional rights violations in the officer-involved shooting death of Pocatello man

POCATELLO — A lawsuit filed with the federal court in Pocatello claims a Pocatello Police sergeant violated a man’s constitutional rights when the sergeant shot and killed the man last January.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the estate of Matthew Planer and Planer’s mother, alleges numerous rights violations by Sgt. Rich Sampson, Officer Breyvon Johnson, Police Chief Roger Schei and the city of Pocatello.

Planer was pronounced dead at the scene after he was shot by Sampson during an investigation into a disturbing the peace allegation.

The shooting was investigated by the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force, led by the Idaho Falls Police Department. When that investigation is completed, a report is provided to the local prosecutor’s office, which then decides if the shooting was justified, according to Idaho Falls police PIO Jessica Clements.

EastIdahoNews.com has reached out to the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office regarding that determination and will update this story when that information is made available.

RELATED | Authorities release new details about man killed in confrontation with Pocatello police

The lawsuit, which was filed Jun 14, claims 10 violations by the defendants: wrongful death by violation of Fourth Amendment rights; wrongful death by negligence; wrongful death by negligent entrustment; wrongful death and battery; two causes of unlawful seizure in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments; unlawful seizure by excessive force; failure to train and supervise; lack of policy or unconstitutional policy and practice; and failure to intervene.

“The city of Pocatello does not comment on pending litigation,” Pocatello spokeswoman Marlise Irby-Facer told EastIdahoNews.com.

The case revolves around an incident that occurred on Jan. 27, 2023.

Officers responded to a call reporting a disturbance at an apartment complex on West Center Street around 12:30 p.m. The caller told police Planer came to her apartment, knocked on her door and, when she answered, took her phone from her. She said she was able to take it back forcibly and that Planer was acting erratically.

According to Schei, who held a news conference to address the shooting six days after it occurred, Planer was acting erratic from the time he answered the door. The police chief said Planer was pacing the apartment and acting unpredictably.

According to the lawsuit, allegations made by the 911 caller could not be corroborated.

Planer was “minding his own business” in the moments leading up to a confrontation, the lawsuit says. He was sitting on a chair outside of his apartment when the caller came out of her apartment to take a picture of him without his permission. Upset by this invasion of his privacy, Planer grabbed the phone from the woman but gave it back before retreating inside of his apartment.

“The reporting party later admitted that Mr. Planer did not make any physical contact with her person,” the lawsuit says.

The caller informed the officers of her intent to press charges, so the officers — Sampson and Johnson — went to Planer’s apartment to interview him. Planer, however, declined to answer any questions.

Sampson, the lawsuit alleges, “unlawfully placed himself inside the doorway of Mr. Planer’s apartment,” blocking Planer from being able to leave or shutting the door.

The officers demanded Planer identify himself, which he did providing a state ID card. At that time, no citations had been issued, nor had any warrant been served, the lawsuit says.

Both officers disregarded Planer’s repeated requests that they leave his home, instead entering the doorway and continuing to block Planer from leaving or closing the door.

“Sgt. Sampson continued to use his body to prevent Mr. Planer from shutting the door until Mr. Planer was given no other option than to forcibly shut the door on Sgt. Sampson, thereby pushing Sgt. Sampson out of the apartment,” the lawsuit says.

It was then that officers informed Planer he would be issued a citation, asking if he would prefer to remain inside of his apartment or go to the police cruiser while he waited for the citation. He chose to remain at his apartment.

Sampson, the lawsuit says, waited in the apartment with Planer while Johnson retrieved the citation.

“Sgt. Sampson unashamedly refused to give Mr. Planer his ID back and began to reprimand Mr. Planer, telling Mr. Planer that he was done with Mr. Planer’s attitude and wanted Mr. Planer to stop disrespecting him,” the lawsuit says. “Once Officer Johnson went downstairs, Sgt. Sampson unveiled his true temperament towards Mr. Planer and began to yell, bully and berate Mr. Planer.”

Sampson forced Planer to comply with “unlawful orders” to sit quietly in his apartment, according to the lawsuit.

“Sgt. Sampson’s conduct served to effectuate an unlawful seizure of Mr. Planer in his own home,” according to the lawsuit. “Again, no warrant had been issued and no warrant exception is applicable. Rather than leave Mr. Planer and issue the citation through other means or obtaining a warrant, Sgt. Sampson continued to yell at Mr. Planer while inside of the apartment, effectively seizing Mr. Planer and going well-beyond the scope of his authority and in violation of Mr. Planer’s constitutional rights.”

Sampson was near the doorway when Planer “grabbed an object” from the kitchen sink — reportedly a medium-sized kitchen knife. Sampson backed out of the apartment and drew his gun.

“Once Sgt. Sampson was out of Mr. Planer’s apartment, the object was dropped,” the lawsuit says.

Despite Planer dropping the “object,” the lawsuit says, Sampson called Planer a “motherf****r” and shot him “in the center of the chest.”

“Sgt. Sampson gave Mr. Planer no warning to drop the object or to place his hands in the air,” according to the lawsuit. “… Mr. Planer was wrongfully killed by Sgt. Sampson, which was preceded by a litany of violations against Mr. Planer’s constitutional rights and ultimately culminated into an unlawful use of excessive force.”

According to Schei, Planer pulled the knife from the sink, forcing Sampson to back away and create space between him and the knife. Schei said during the news conference that the officer and Planer were only a few feet apart, which created a potential threat to the officer’s safety.

Both officers, Schei continued, attempted life-saving efforts but were unsuccessful.

Planer’s mother has since suffered damages, including “severe emotional distress, medical bills, funeral expenses, loss of income and financial support, pain and suffering, loss of familiar relationship, loss of consortium, loss of services and loss of support,” according to the lawsuit.

Sampson, the lawsuit alleges, violated the constitutional rights protecting Planer from illegal search and seizure, and providing him due process. Johnson allegedly failed in his “obligation to intervene to prevent Sgt. Sampson from infringing upon the constitutional rights of Mr. Planer.” And Schei as well as the city of Pocatello failed in providing proper training, the lawsuit states.

Sampson has been involved in about six officer-involved shooting investigations — despite this, the city and Schei “continued to employ Sgt. Sampson permitting him to carry a firearm” when they “should have known that Sgt. Sampson is likely to use a firearm in such a manner as to create an unreasonable risk of harm to others.”

The lawsuit does not list a precise dollar amount requested as relief but asks for a jury trial, saying its request is greater than $10,000.

An initial hearing date has yet to be set but the case has been assigned to Chief District Judge Lynn Windmill.