Attorneys for the Montezuma County Sheriffs Office have asked a judge to dismiss a $158,000 lawsuit filed against MCSO by the Denver Health and Hospital Authority for the cost of treating a man shot when he pointed a gun at two local law officers.
The Denver Health and Hospital Authority has responded by filing an objection to the motion filed by Vaughan and DeMuro, the Colorado Springs law firm hired to represent the county. Although MCSO is the agency being sued, county commissioners will decide whether to pay the bill or fight the lawsuit.
The two sides will argue the motion in front of 22nd Judicial District Judge Todd Plewe on Sept. 6.
Zachary Sullivan was recently sentenced to 48 years in prison after being convicted of attempted murder and several other crimes related to a March 2011 incident in which he pointed a firearm at a Cortez Police officer and a sheriffs deputy. The gun jammed, and both officers shot him. Sullivan was taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital and then was airlifted to Denver for further treatment of multiple gunshot wounds.
When the county was first informed of the lawsuit, Montezuma County Sheriff Dennis Spruell told commissioners that Sullivan is the person who put the sheriffs office in this situation and is ultimately responsible for his medical bill.
If deputies hesitate to use deadly force when needed because of medical bills the county might incur, the sheriff said, lives and the lives of others could be endangered.
County Administrator Ashton Harrison said earlier this week that the lawsuit was still in the early stages of presenting evidence on why the county was or was not liable for the medical bills.
He said if the judge were to rule against the county and order it to pay the hospital, its insurance company would not cover the medical expenses.
Harrison said the county would have to find the funds somewhere else, and most likely the cost would come out of the general fund reserve.
