TOPEKA — Attorneys for the City of Topeka and five police officers named in a wrongful-death lawsuit urged a federal magistrate to sanction a lawyer representing the dead man’s family for disclosing body-camera footage of the incident to the media.
Defense counsel Jeffrey Kuhlman and Nicholas Jefferson filed a motion requesting LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, who represents family of the late Taylor Lowery, be publicly admonished and face other repercussions for disclosing video of the shooting to Kansas Reflector and NBC News. Both news outlets reported on and published portions of the body-camera video.
The defense lawyers alleged Lassiter Saunders violated a protective order establishing rules for release of police video tracking movements of Lowery and Topeka police officers Malcolm Gillum, Justin Good and Bradley Netherton, Sgt. Scott McEntire and Detective Alex Wall during the 2022 episode.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Angel Mitchell’s order in December blocked public release of personally identifiable information of certain people and segments of video containing images of minors. Kansas Reflector didn’t publish that shielded video content.
“Third parties have obviously reviewed confidential portions of the footage that was subject to the protective order,” the motion filed by Kuhlman and Jefferson said.
On Wednesday, Mitchell issued an order instructing Lassiter Saunders and Da’Mabrius Duncan, the special administrator of Lowery’s estate, to explain how they may have violated the December protective order in relation to bodycam footage. Both were told to submit a document by Feb. 25, signed under penalty of perjury, explaining what confidential information was disseminated to third parties.
The judge also forbid Lassiter Saunders from participating in further discovery in the lawsuit or receiving materials produced in the case.
The defendants’ attorneys declared Lassiter Saunders’ motive for sharing the video was “to try this case in the court of public opinion and to improperly influence and taint the jury pool.”
In October 2022, Topeka police officers confronted Lowery at a mobile-home park. Lowery held a butcher knife and wrench, but eluded those officers by jumping in a vehicle and driving away. The pursuit led to a convenience story parking lot, where a larger contingent of officers confronted Lowery.
At one point, Lowery dropped the wrench and knife. When he picked up the wrench, officers shot at him 34 times. He sustained 41 entrance or exit bullet wounds and died at the scene. The knife remained on the ground during final moments of the encounter.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys, Lassiter Saunders as well as William Denning and Paeten Denning, claimed in the lawsuit Topeka police officers used excessive force. The Dennings informed defense attorneys that Lassiter Saunders shared the video with reporters, the motion from Kuhlman and Jefferson said.
In addition to public admonishment, Jefferson and Kuhlman want Lassiter Saunders found in contempt of the court’s protective order and that she be required to disclose what documents were released to third parties. They asked the court to compel Lassiter Saunders to destroy or return evidence received through the discovery process and that she be banned from future depositions in the case.
They also wanted the federal court to compel Lassiter Saunders or the plaintiffs to pay defendants’ legal fees for participating in a court hearing Friday on the issue and for preparing the brief demanding sanctions.
In 2023, Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay cleared the Topeka officers of wrongdoing. In court documents, lawyers for the officers have said they were justified in shooting Lowery.
