BY ART BUKOWSKI
abukowski@record-eagle.com
March 19, 2008 04:00 am Traverse City -- An attorney who sued the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department can question a prosecutor who investigated the shooting of an Interlochen man by a department sniper. Thirteenth Circuit Judge Thomas Power denied a motion by a sheriff's department attorney Monday to quash a subpoena of Kalkaska County Prosecutor Brian Donnelly. Traverse City attorney Grant Parsons subpoenaed Donnelly as part of a suit against sheriff's officials over a state Freedom of Information Act request. Parsons is investigating the Nov. 10 death of Craig Carlson, who was shot by sheriff's sniper Charles Jetter after a lengthy standoff at Carlson's Karlin Road home. Parsons alleges the sheriff's department improperly delayed the release of documents about the incident and withheld specific records when he requested them under FOIA, according to a suit he filed on behalf of the Carlson family in January. Parsons initially submitted a FOIA request to Donnelly, who investigated the shooting on behalf of the Michigan Attorney General's Office. Donnelly, who eventually cleared Jetter of wrongdoing, said he returned all relevant documents to the sheriff's department after his investigation, Parsons' suit states. Parsons, in a response to the motion to quash his subpoena of Donnelly, said he wants to know why Donnelly got rid of the materials so fast. "It will be interesting to discuss whether it is standard practice for a public official to divest all file materials shortly after completing (the investigation of) a controversial killing involving 12 or more law enforcement agencies," Parsons wrote. Robert Cooney, an assistant Grand Traverse prosecutor, sought to quash the subpoena because he doesn't think Parsons had legitimate reasons to question Donnelly, based on the nature of the suit. "I could not envision a relevant purpose for questioning Mr. Donnelly in this FOIA action against the sheriff's department," he said. Power said Parsons can only question Donnelly about what documents Donnelly had when he received Parsons' FOIA request and to whom he gave those documents. Dozens of police officers converged on Carlson's home after he allegedly called 911 to say he was suicidal, and Jetter shot Carlson through the front window of his home about 11 hours later. Police said Carlson was shot as he raised a weapon, and Donnelly concluded Carlson represented a threat to police.
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