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MyEagleNews.com
Sheriff
Glenn Palmer
Lawsuit
Continued from Page A6
motion Olson failed to provide a
timely tort claim notice within 180
days of discovering a potential claim
existed and failed to state a claim
upon which relief can be granted.
Olson “fails to identify the
source of the information and pho-
tos becoming public” and does not
allege that Carpenter was informed
by ISP that the arrest was confiden-
tial or the contents of the cellphone
extraction were protected, Van
Meter said.
“(Olson) does not provide any
reasoning for why she is suing D.A.
Carpenter and not the Idaho police
who released information allegedly
in violation of her agreement with
them,” Van Meter said in the motion,
adding in a footnote that, if the com-
plaint was determined to state any
valid claims, Carpenter preserves all
defenses including but not limited to
prosecutorial immunity.
District Attorney
Jim Carpenter
Abigail Mobley
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Darren Mortimore
Tyler Smith
A7
Haley Olson
“DEFENDANT HAS UNCOVERED DOCUMENTS WHICH HE BELIEVES SUPPORT HIS
POSITION THAT HE WAS FIRED FROM THE GRANT COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
IN RETALIATION FOR REPORTING A GRANT COUNTY SHERIFF’S CO-WORKER
FOR HAVING INAPPROPRIATE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH AN INMATE AND FOR
REPORTING THE SAME CO-WORKER FOR USING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES.”
Andrew Coit, former deputy Tyler Smith’s attorney in a Sept. 9 memorandum filed in circuit court
Complaint, legal memo allege
retaliation against former
deputy who says he reported
Mobley to the Justice
Department
Former Grant County Sheriff’s
Office deputy Tyler Smith, who was
fired in 2019, claims he faced retali-
ation for being a whistleblower who
reported to the Oregon Department
of Justice that Deputy Abigail Mob-
ley was having an inappropriate
relationship with an inmate at Grant
County Jail and using drugs.
Palmer’s police union attorney,
Daniel E. Thenell, said he was not
representing Palmer in this com-
plaint but that Palmer “will not be
making any comments about this or
the other litigation matters.”
Smith’s attorney, Andrew Coit,
confirmed Smith made a report
about Abigail Mobley, but he said
he was not at liberty to discuss the
specifics or answer other questions.
Sheriff correspondence
In a March 26, 2019, letter to
Smith obtained by the Eagle, Palmer
said he received information that a
businessperson from Grant County
— whom the Eagle has identified as
Haley Olson — had been arrested
in Idaho and Smith’s business card
was located in Olson’s vehicle. He
said he was advised information
had been extracted from Olson’s
cellphone.
“The arresting officer that I
spoke with advised me that he was
unwilling to divulge that informa-
tion to me,” Palmer said in the let-
ter. “I subsequently went to the Dis-
trict Attorney and asked that Jim
Carpenter make a request by and
through his office to the prosecutor
of Jerome County, Idaho.”
Palmer said he met with Grant
County District Attorney Jim Car-
penter and the county Human
Resources Department March 18,
2019.
“Our (district attorney) also
serves as our County Counsel, I was
advised that, while we were using
an outside agency to deal with per-
sonnel issues, that it would be a time
to also look at the issue that we are
dealing with you on now,” Palmer
said in the letter. “As I shared with
you, I have not seen any of the mate-
rial or information that the DA has
received and I will not interject
myself into this investigation until
the outside agency provides with a
final report that either puts this to
rest or provides me with information
that may be of significance.”
Palmer told Smith he was not
being placed on leave at the time.
In an April 11, 2019, letter to
Smith, Palmer said the investigation
into Smith’s involvement with Olson
and her arrest in Idaho “will not go
any further.”
In an Aug. 9, 2019, letter to Smith,
Palmer said he was placing Smith
“on paid administrative leave pend-
ing an investigation into policy viola-
tion(s) involving ethics issue(s)” and
seeking an outside agency to inves-
tigate “this issue,” which is not fur-
ther described. The letter was signed
by Palmer, Smith and Sgt. Danny
Komning, who is Abigail Mobley’s
brother.
Carpenter later said Smith was placed
on administrative leave for “issues
related to the performance of his duties
as a sheriff’s deputy.” County officials
refused to provide further information
or records.
Eagle file photo
The Grant County Courthouse in Canyon City. A former deputy says he faced retaliation for reporting misconduct.
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office parking spot designated for Sheriff Glenn Palmer.
Smith’s arrest
Smith’s wife filed for divorce
Aug. 5, 2019. The Oregon State
Police arrested Smith Sept. 6, 2019,
after he was accused by his wife of
attempted rape, assault and child
neglect.
A Sept. 27, 2019, grand jury
indictment in Grant County Circuit
Court accuses Smith of attempted
first-degree rape, attempted first-de-
gree sex abuse and fourth-degree
assault of his spouse while she was
pregnant around Aug. 31, 2018. He
was also charged with four counts of
second-degree child neglect.
Smith’s employment as a sher-
iff’s deputy was terminated by the
county Dec. 17, 2019, before he
had entered a plea in the criminal
case. He later pleaded not guilty to
all charges. He is awaiting trial and
an arbitration hearing related to his
termination.
In a Sept. 9 memorandum filed
in court regarding a motion to push
back Smith’s trial date, Smith’s
attorney said he identified new infor-
mation that will “require further dis-
covery and further investigation.”
“Defendant has uncovered doc-
uments which he believes support
his position that he was fired from
the Grant County Sheriff’s office
in retaliation for reporting a Grant
County Sheriff’s co-worker for hav-
ing inappropriate sexual relations
with an inmate and for reporting
the same co-worker for using con-
trolled substances,” Coit said in the
memo. “... Defendant feels that
those repercussions also ultimately
influenced law enforcement’s deci-
sion to bring charges against him
in this case. Defendant believes
that to some extent, defendant’s
wife who is the complaining wit-
ness in this case is coordinating
with law enforcement to achieve
their mutual goal: to get rid of
defendant.”
During a Sept. 10 hearing, the
judge granted Smith’s motion and
pushed the trial dates back to April
5-16, 2021.
Yazmin Wadia, a victim’s attor-
ney representing Smith’s spouse,
did not respond to a request for
comment.
Prosecutorial conflicts?
The criminal case against Smith
is being prosecuted by Gretchen
Ladd-Dobler, Wheeler County’s dis-
trict attorney and the wife of Grant
County Sheriff’s Office Deputy
Dave Dobler.
Ladd-Dobler told the Eagle Car-
penter asked her to evaluate the case
and decide whether to prosecute
because Smith was a law enforce-
ment officer in Grant County and
Carpenter had a conflict of interest.
She said he has occasionally asked
to help with other matters, and this
is a common practice among district
attorneys.
Assisting in the prosecution is
the Oregon Department of Justice.
Ladd-Dobler said it is common to
ask DOJ for assistance with serious
cases because they have tremen-
dous experience in certain areas.
Ladd-Dobler pointed out the
case was investigated by OSP, not
the Grant County Sheriff’s Office,
and that district attorneys, not vic-
tims, decide if criminal cases
move forward. She did not directly
address the appearance of a conflict
of interest.
“It would be inappropriate to
comment on an open case or the
defense theory of a case; crimi-
nal matters are of a confidential
nature until presented in court to a
jury sworn to evaluate the evidence
presented and decide a matter in a
fair and impartial manner,” Ladd-
Dobler said. “... We have reviewed
the recent allegations made by
the defense and do not believe a
change in attorneys is appropriate or
necessary.”
Unanswered questions
Although Smith said his attor-
ney would not allow him to discuss
the case, Smith’s girlfriend, Haley
Olson, shared with the Eagle mes-
sages from Smith that discuss him
reporting allegations about Abi-
gail Mobley to DOJ, which Olson
obtained from a cellphone extraction
of her phone.
In a Jan. 3, 2019, text message to
Olson, Smith said he was going to
report Abigail Mobley to DOJ and
was nervous about going to work.
“But something has to be done.
She’s arresting people and using
the same drugs she’s arresting them
for,” Smith said in the text message.
In response to a request from the
Eagle seeking the information Smith
reported and other whistleblower
allegations, DOJ’s Senior Assistant
Attorney General Andrew C. Foltz
said July 17 that DOJ does “not have
any records of other investigations
or whistleblower complaint infor-
mation regarding alleged miscon-
duct at the Grant County Jail.”
Foltz did not directly answer
whether Smith’s account of being a
whistleblower to DOJ was accurate,
but he said the DOJ investigation
was limited to allegations of sexual
misconduct with an inmate and did
not look into allegations about drug
use.
“DOJ’s investigation was con-
ducted at the request of the district
attorney, and not in response to any
whistleblower complaints or alle-
gations made by Mr Smith,” Foltz
said.
DOJ declined the Eagle’s request
for records related to the Abigail
Mobley investigation Aug. 3, cit-
ing an “ongoing personnel investi-
gation” expected to be completed
Sept. 14-28.
In a Sept. 10 email, Foltz said
Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office
was conducting the personnel
investigation.
However, in a Sept. 9 email,
Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office
Office Clerk Jaime Shockman said
she spoke with her administra-
tion and no one was aware of the
investigation. She said the sheriff’s
office was not currently conduct-
ing any investigations for outside
agencies.
Umatilla County Counsel Doug
Olsen concurred in a Sept. 11 email.
“To my knowledge,” he said,
“there are not any outside investiga-
tions at this time.”
This Eagle investigation has
been ongoing for 534 days. If you
have information, email editor@
bmeagle.com or call 541-575-0710.