Suit Dismissed Concerning Paducah Police Action

Paducah Police learned Tuesday that a McCracken County Circuit Judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the city stemming from service of a search warrant in late 2009.

The police department's SWAT team was sent on Nov. 19, 2009, to the home of Donnie McKinney to search for McKinney's son, Dustin, who was charged in warrants with first-degree robbery and two counts of murder in connection to the beating deaths of two elderly Hopkins County residents. Dustin McKinney was not located at the home, but was arrested the following day in Graves County.

McKinney and his wife, Marcia, filed suit in US District Court, alleging the department's SWAT team used excessive force against them, were negligent in their treatment of them, and assaulted them.

US Distict Judge Thomas Russell granted the city's request that the case be dismissed in Feb. 2012, stating in his opinion that the SWAT team's actions were "objectively reasonable and did not violate the United States Constitution."

The McKinney's then filed suit in McCracken County Circuit Court.

In an eleven-page opinion signed January 17, 2013, McCracken County Circuit Judge Craig Clymer stated that attorneys for the McKinneys "have referenced no evidence supporting their claims that police conduct was negligent, grossly negligent, or excessive."

Clymer went on to say that the SWAT team acted reasonably and appropriately given the circumstances.