Federal Magistrate Judge Christopher Steger decided to give Daniel Wilkey and his co-defendant’s more time to respond to a complaint with the holiday season so close, but did not give the defendant an indefinite extension they were seeking.
Sherriff’s deputy Wilkey, who was recently indicted for 44 different charges in criminal court, also faces multiple civil lawsuits. The focus of the hearing had to do with a lawsuit alleging he conducted inappropriate roadside search on five young women and one young man.
Wilkey’s attorney Eric Guster asked the court to essentially put the lawsuit on hold until the charges in criminal court could be resolved. The attorney told the judge he did not want to put his client in a compromising situation, where something he would say in the civil lawsuit could be used in a criminal case. Attorney said that pushing the lawsuit forward along with the criminal matters could be a violation of his constitutional rights.
“It seems the thrust of the complaint is that Wilkey is willing to rush to justice by conducting a search in the rain (rather than wait until they can go to the police station),” said the federal magistrate judge. “And he was riding roughshod over their constitutional rights. But now he wants the court to slow down. Do you see the irony?”
The attorney for co-defendant Tyler McRae, who allegedly stood by and watched as this happened, also requested more time. However, his reasoning for a delay was so he could study more about the case, as the attorney had just been assigned to the matter a few days prior.
Attorney Robin Flores asked for the court to keep the lawsuit moving, saying “Justice delayed is justice denied” and stating “Mr. Wilkey is the author of his own misfortune.” He argued Wilkey could simply plead the fifth if asked any questions that could be incriminating or negatively affect his cases in criminal court. Attorney Flores also said that regardless if Wilkey responded to questions about the alleged crimes, attorneys would need to time to go through and gather discovery.
He also said a stay of any kind is only supposed to be for a limited amount of time, and is not intended to put a case “in limbo” for years. And, as he said the judge made sure to point out, the actions described in the lawsuit were not related to any of the 44 indictments in criminal court.
Magistrate Judge Steger decided on a middle ground of sorts by allowing both sides until after the holiday season to file their responses to any complaints. He told the attorneys he knew people would be busy with other things during this time. Magistrate Judge Steger said he would make a written response as well, and would set a date for the motion to stay the trial after those responses had been filed.