No criminal charges in Boulder shooting

By Angela Brandt - 06/11/2008

BOULDER — A jury of nine decided Tuesday evening that criminal charges are not necessary in the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old Boulder man by a sheriff’s deputy in January.

Francis Michael Stately, who was brandishing a 12-gauge shotgun in front of his Cleveland Street home, called 911 at about 3:45 a.m. on Jan. 19 and in an expletive-filled tirade said he wanted to kill police.

About 14 minutes later, Stately suffered two fatal gunshots to the chest and torso after a failed attempt by Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy Dave Kosola to subdue him with a Taser, according to testimony at a coroner’s inquest Tuesday. Stately died at St. Peter’s Hospital in Helena during a surgical procedure at about 8 a.m. that day.

Testimony in the inquest recounted the events of the morning and focused on the steps taken by law enforcement officials, mainly the actions of Kosola.

The first responder on the scene was Rick Streib, the Boulder City Police reserve officer on duty. When Streib arrived on Cleveland Street, he was met by Stately’s wife, Heather, who told him that he should not go to the trailer alone.

Streib testified he spoke with Stately, who refused to give up the shotgun because “it was the only bargaining chip he had.” Stately was intoxicated, agitated, argumentative and continuously stated that he wanted to die, Streib said.

While Streib stood behind his car door with his weapon ready, Stately walked back from the patrol car to the front of his home and shot once into the trailer.

Streib radioed that a shot had been fired just before Undersheriff Steve Marquis arrived at the scene. Stately entered his home and came out with an alcoholic beverage, still wielding the shotgun.

Marquis, a trained negotiator, arrived in street clothing and was not brandishing a weapon in order to make Stately feel more comfortable. The undersheriff testified he spoke with Stately, who said he was disgusted with his life.

Investigators later found a message written on a dry-erase board in the house stating, “I failed. Look at my life I have nothing to offer anyone.” Marquis attempted to talk Stately down.

“At one point, he asked me to shoot him but I said, ‘I don’t have a gun,’ “ he said.

Marquis said there was no time for planning or evacuation of neighbors.

“This is the absolute fastest situation I have ever been involved with,” he testified.

Kosola, who was off duty as of a half-hour prior to the incident, lived two blocks away and quickly arrived on the scene after receiving a phone call from dispatch. He testified he knew he was going into an escalated situation and was prepared to cover the negotiator.

Kosola, who had never been involved in on-the-job gunfire before, said he grabbed his shotgun and hid behind a wagon about 20 feet from Stately.

At that point, Stately was focused on Marquis, whom he told to take his (Stately’s) four children away so they could not see and asked the undersheriff again to shoot him. Kosola said the situation was growing more heated and he decided to attempt to use a Taser on Stately.

“I gained an opportunity to de-escalate the situation and I made that decision,” he said.

Kosola said he approached Stately with a Taser in his right hand and his shotgun in his left. When he was about 15 feet from Stately, Kosola’s radio made a noise.

“I paused for a second and the suspect turned,” he said, adding that leaving the radio on was a matter of safety in case someone had to communicate with him.

He put his Taser back in the holster and put his shotgun in shooting position. Kosola was away from his cover and had Stately pointing his loaded and cocked shotgun at him.

“He turned around and stated, ‘You’re dumb,’ and raised his shotgun to me,” Kosola testified.

Kosola discharged two shots.

“The first shot hit and he spun around. I shot him again because he was still a threat. We are not trained to shoot to kill, we’re trained to alleviate threat and he still had the gun,” he explained. “I thought he’d shoot me.” Kosola, who was placed on administrative leave following the incident, returned to work about a month later, after a psychological evaluation and a use-of-force review were conducted by the county, according to Sheriff Craig Doolittle.

Marquis testified that while he was not sure attempting to use a Taser in this situation was the best option, he thought the use of lethal force was justified.

“We’re taught a weapon for a weapon. You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight,” he said, adding, “I personally would have shot him. If I was in his position, I would have shot him.” Heather Stately testified about the night leading up to her husband’s death — one that she said was fairly normal. The couple had arrived home from a movie and shopping when she began to feel extremely ill. Her husband wanted to take her to the emergency room and when she refused he became aggravated, she said.

He had a few beers and began to mumble and pace, she testified. It was then that he grabbed the shotgun and went outside.

“I knew he was not in his right mind,” she said.

Heather Stately said she and her husband had “domestic issues” in the past, including one time when he bashed her head against the garage and another when he choked her to the point where she lost consciousness, but that he had never had problems with guns before.

He also had threatened suicide at least three times and once attempted to overdose on pills. Her husband was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was not on any medication at the time of the shooting, she said.

Heather Stately said the more she tried to talk with her husband, the more aggravated he became, so she snuck their four children out a window and fled to a friend’s house down the street.

She said she did not call 911 because she was afraid her husband wanted officers to kill him.

“He knew that was a sure way he could die. He heard about it on TV a lot,” she testified. “He never wanted to harm a police officer. I want to make that clear.” — Reporter Angela Brandt: 447-4078 or angela.brandt@helenair.com