State trooper sued over shooting

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, February 7, 2007

An Alabama State Trooper will be back in court soon over the shooting death of a Shelby County man.

The mother of Christopher Lindley, 29, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against trooper Michael Braswell Roberts who shot and killed her son in 2004. In May of 2005, a grand jury decided Roberts should not face criminal charges in Lindley&8217;s death.

Kathy Edmondson is suing Roberts, along with eight other Department of Public Safety employees, and is seeking a trial by jury for the defendants. Edmondson&8217;s suit claims that Roberts had &8220;no probable cause&8221; to approach Lindley for committing a crime.

Lindley&8217;s truck ran into a ditch on Dec. 17, 2004. Shortly after, Roberts stopped and he and Lindley got into an altercation. Lindley began to run toward the direction of his mother&8217;s house when the two began struggling with one another. Robert&8217;s statement said Lindley ignored warnings after attacking the trooper. It also claims that Roberts&8217; own statement to investigators shows that he, not Lindley, initiated the three-minute struggle prior to Lindley&8217;s shooting.

The other eight defendants are included in the suit for the hiring of Roberts, who according to the lawsuit did not meet Department of Public Safety standards.

Edmondson&8217;s lawyer David Marsh said the complaint is detailed but that he did not wish to make any further comments due to continuing investigations.

Jack Curtis, a lawyer for the Department of Public Safety could not be reached for comment.