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When former Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton resigned under pressure in August 2016, Staton's fellow elected officials were mostly eager to see him go.
County Chair Deborah Kafoury and Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill requested a state investigation of Staton's management practices in February 2016.
Although that investigation found no criminal behavior on the sheriff's part, his administration collapsed under a hail of criticism from subordinates and community leaders. He left office Aug. 17, 2016 and was replaced by now-Sheriff Mike Reese.
Today, however, the county will defend Staton's management in Multnomah County Circuit Court, in response to a lawsuit filed by former MCSO Sgt. Brent Ritchie.
In the complaint filed by his attorney, Sean Riddell, Ritchie alleges that Staton demoted and ostracized him after Ritchie and a colleague briefed Staton on the results of a draft audit that found black inmates in the county's jails were the subject of disproportionate use of physical force.
In a pre-trial filing, Riddell noted that Staton followed the unusual practice of demanding that his command staff sign non-disclosure agreements, that would have prevented the draft audit from being disclosed, even though such documents would typically be subject to the Oregon Public Records law. (Both WW and the Portland Tribune reported extensively on the draft audit, including publishing its findings.)
"Mr. Staton admitted under oath and during his deposition that release of the Use of Force Audit would lead to demotion or termination in accordance with the NDA," Riddell wrote in a May 14 filing.
In its response to Ritchie's complaint, the county's attorney has argued that Ritchie was transferred out of Staton's office prior to his disclosing the draft audit results to Staton and that the transfer was the result of a routine job rotation, not retaliation.
Jury selection is today for a scheduled four-day trial.
