A Chehalis man serving a 12-year sentence on multiple drug charges is suing the city of Centralia and Lewis County in relation to his 2014 conviction in federal court, arguing detectives and prosecutors conspired to violate his civil rights and intercept privileged communication with his attorney.
Forest Eugene Amos, 33, of Chehalis, filed the lawsuit Aug. 16, 2016, exactly two weeks after he was charged in Lewis County, through a special deputy prosecutor, with criminally impersonating Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer, another prosecutor and two police officers — all four of whom are named as defendants in his lawsuit.
A trial in that case is currently scheduled to begin Feb. 27, according to Superior Court schedules.
In a response to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the Centralia defendants deny Amos’ allegations in total and call the lawsuit “frivolous, vexatious and a flagrant abuse of judicial process.”
Lewis County simply asked for the case to be dismissed.
Amos pleaded guilty in 2014 to tampering with a witness, first-degree computer trespass, possession of marijuana with intent to manufacture or deliver, attempted possession of marijuana with intent, attempted forgery, three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent, four counts of delivery of a controlled substance, third-degree introducing contraband to a detention facility and second-degree attempted theft.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
He was originally accused of leading organized crime, but that charge was dropped pursuant to his plea deal. He was not eligible for an appeal due to his guilty pleas. In exchange for those pleas, four charges of intimidating a witness on a related case number were dismissed.
On Aug. 16, 2016, Amos filed the lawsuit regarding the 2014 case in Lewis County Superior Court, acting as his own attorney. The lawsuit specifically names the city of Centralia, Centralia police officers Adam Haggerty and Chad Withrow, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer and Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead.
He previously filed tort claims regarding the allegations with both the city of Centralia and Lewis County.
According to Amos’s civil complaint filed in the lawsuit, he was in custody in the Lewis County Jail on the 2014 case starting on Dec. 2, 2013, pending a trial.
He notes that detectives and prosecutors intercepted and read his regular incoming and outgoing mail at the jail from that point forward.
On June 17, detectives obtained a search warrant to search Amos’ cell for mail marked “legal mail.” According to court documents, a judge granted the search warrant after detectives and prosecutors reported that they believed Amos was using mail marked “Legal Mail” to communicate with people other than his attorney, and in an attempt to continue drug enterprises while in prison and to potentially intimidate or harm witnesses in the case.
They argued that Amos was caught discussing the scheme in a recorded jail telephone call and through interviews with witnesses.
That investigation resulted in the later-dismissed witness intimidation allegations.
However, Amos argues in the lawsuit that detectives’ statements on the topic were “false,” according to court documents, and accuses them of seizing confidential and privileged communication between himself and his lawyer. He argues that action violated his attorney-client privilege and his constitutional rights, and ultimately undermined his case.
Amos’s complaint alleges police took “legal mail, case notes, case narratives, trial strategies, witness synopsis and questions and other forms of work produce prepared by plaintiff at his defense counsel’s behest.”
Amos argues in his complaint that detectives and prosecutors intended to intercept this privileged communication.
In the lawsuit, Amos said he pleaded guilty because “he was left with no other avenue after the defendant’s intrusion into his privileged attorney-client communications.”
In October, the case became federal, and was moved to U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Court documents do not indicate why the case was moved to federal court.
Amos has requested a judge declare that the defendants violated his constitutional rights, and that he be granted “damages as determined by a jury.”
Defendants have asked that a judge dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, and if not, demand a jury trial.
Most recently, the plaintiff and defendants have filed a “joint status report and discovery plan,” which asserts that a trial could take up to seven days, and that both parties will be ready for a trial by the end of 2018.
However, the defendants noted in the report that they plan to file a dispositive motion, asking the court to dismiss all or part of the allegations made by Amos.
If the court does not grant that motion, the defendants plan to go to mediation after discovery, a pre-trial process in which both sides gather evidence.
John Justice, attorney for the Centralia defendants, and David Fine, of the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, attorney for the Lewis County defendants, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to court documents, Amos has been charged with four counts of forgery and three counts of first-degree criminal impersonation.
The case is being prosecuted by Mark McClain, elected prosecutor in Pacific County and special prosecutor on Amos’ most recent case.
According to court documents, on March 15, 2016, the Lewis County clerk’s office received four documents entitled “forced commercial contract,” citing the case number from Amos’ 2014 conviction.
The documents were each purporting to be notice of a subrogation bond and a claim for $1 million against the bond.
Each was supposedly signed by Meyer, Halstead, Haggerty and Withrow, and were all notarized.
A deputy from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case and learned from the notary that Amos signed all of the documents, forging the signatures.
Amos reportedly denied attempting to forge the signatures, but said he only put their names down because he was going to sue them.
