Politics & Government
O'Reilly Could Face Deposition In Civil Lawsuit
The estate of Kevin Matthews, who was killed in a December 2015 confrontation with Dearborn Police, wants to depose the Mayor for the suit.
DEARBORN, MI — If Dearborn attorneys have their way, Mayor John B. O'Reilly will not have to be deposed in a civil lawsuit against the city in the December 2015 death of Kevin Matthews. Dearborn Police Cpl. Chris Hampton was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting death of Matthews by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, according to a MLive report.
But Matthews’ estate filed a multi-million dollar civil suit against the city. The estate is seeking to depose O'Reilly based on comments that he made in a news report, saying that Hampton and Matthews had a positive relationship.
"A deposition would create undue burden on Mayor O'Reilly because there are significant time constraints in his schedule due to his demanding duties as mayor of the city of Dearborn" and "based on the mayor's lack of personal knowledge in this case, a deposition of the mayor would only waste time and produce unfruitful results," the city’s motion says in trying to shield the mayor.
“The defense also says the mayor would instead respond to written questions, making an in-person deposition unnecessary.”
For more, go to MLive.
File photo / AP
Find out what's happening in Dearbornfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.