By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A $1.5 million claim has been filed against Lewis County, by a former inmate who said he was left with no option other than entering into a plea agreement after his attorney-client-protected documents were removed from his cell before trial and handed over to a prosecutor.
Forrest E. Amos says the actions rendered his fair trial rights meaningless, violating his rights under the federal and state constitutions.
Forrest E. Amos
Amos is serving a 12-year sentence in connection with trafficking in prescription pain pills.
Law enforcement estimated that in 2011 when Amos was aggressively dealing Oxycodone, he was the main supplier of the synthetic opiate within Lewis County, possessing and dealing thousands of pills a month.
Amos was held in the Lewis County Jail from December 2013 until the following August.
He writes in his claim that at the request of his lawyer, he prepared case notes, narratives, witness synopsis and questions, along with trial strategies and other materials intended to assist in preparing his defense.
He states that on June 18, 2014, two corrections officers stood by as a pair of Centralia police officers with a search warrant unlawfully went through all of his documents and seized them.
Amos contends that rather than place the materials into an evidence locker at the police department, the officers gave them to Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead.
His lawyer, Don Blair, attempted to view the documents so he could continue to prepare to interview witnesses prior to trial but was denied access by both the prosecutor’s office and the police department, according to Amos.
Amos filed a similar claim against the city of Centralia on Nov. 23. The city has turned the claim over to its insurer, according to its personnel director Candice Rydalch.
Lewis County Risk and Safety Administrator Paulette Young indicated today the county has taken no action on it yet.
She received Amos’s claim last week, mailed from Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen.
Amos, formerly of Napavine and Chehalis, was 30 years old in December 2013 when he was brought before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court, charged with organized crime and a multitude of other offenses. Centralia police contended Amos’s illegal activities dated back to 2011 and continued while he was in prison.
New charges of witness intimidation filed June 18, 2014 – which were subsequently dismissed – included allegations that while in the Lewis County Jail, Amos used his”legal mail” to continue his criminal intentions without detection.
Amos’s claim against the county states that Centralia Officer Adam Haggerty secured the search warrant for his jail cell from Judge R.W. Buzzard, but it omitted a fact which would have caused Buzzard not to grant the warrant.
Amos writes that Haggerty had earlier persuaded jail officials to copy all of his incoming and outgoing mail, and forward them to the Centralia Police Department.
In August 2014, he entered into a plea deal involving far fewer charges that gave him a dozen years behind bars and included a promise not to appeal his convictions or sentence in any way.
Amos writes also that he plans to file a lawsuit for invasion of privacy and abuse of process. He is representing himself.
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For background, read “Local oxycodone dealer goes back to prison” from Thursday Aug. 21, 2014, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
I feel that if they have to sneak around to get a guilty plea then thats wrong the client and his attorney have a privacy that should not be taken lightly.. even being in the wrong for his choices dlesnt mean he shouldnt get the legal representation that we are all intitled to the search was just to get the papers tbat means they listen on attorney client contact so tbats all wrong in my book,.lewis county is not above the laws is all i say we are granted rights for a reason to avoid this so maybe just following thw law is how it should be.. no one is above the legal right give to us by the constution and they are there for a reason to protect everyone involved..
I dont know feels a little shady to me…
You hope he wins, I’m tired of throwing away my tax money on POS drug
dealers like this in BS lawsuits
Or maybe you don’t pay taxes Hernandez
The only thing Amos is guilty of is practicing medicine without a license.
Also, something else that is not making any sense: Why would Detective Adam Haggerty need a search warrant to search his jail cell??? Why wouldn’t the corrections staff just shake his cell down like they do everyone elses?? Something is not adding up. I will have to run a public disclosure on this with the appropriate agencies.
I hope Amos wins because Haggerty is constantly pushing the bounds of the law and its time he get spanked again
Hate to say it but if the sheriff did indeed give those documents to the prosecutor then he will win.
I have no respect for what Amos has done with his life (and to the lives of others) up to this point, but I do respect systemic rights and it sure sounds like his were violated. His claim may have merit, although he’s foolish if he’s representing himself.
so a centralia pd officer comes to the jail with a search warrant signed by a judge to search this dirt bags cell for eveidence. The centralia pd officer removes the eveidence and now mr dirtbag is suing the lewis county sheriff’s office. what am i missing here. if the jail didn’t comply with the search warrant they would be held in contempt, but because they did then the biggest doper in lewis county is trying sue them. a complete waste of tax payers money. we need to bring back solitary confinement and let these people stare at 4 walls until they get released.
Centralia handed his claim to their insurers, that says payout!
If they really did mess with or disturb his attorney/client privileged documents then they need to lose $1.5 million dollars. I can’t think of a worse way for the police to violate due process.
I wish I had so much free time.