The family of Samuel Sterling filed a civil lawsuit against Brian Keely, alleging excessive force, negligence and misconduct.
In April 2024, Sterling ran from a task force trying to arrest him.
Officers chased him into the parking lot of a Burger King in Kentwood where video shows Sterling being hit by Keely’s unmarked police SUV.
He later died of his injuries.
Keely was charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
The case was moved to federal court after his lawyers argued Keely was acting as part of a U.S. Marshall’s task force.
In May a federal judge dismissed the criminal case, saying the state did not have enough evidence to dispute Keely’s actions as a federal officer.
Monday, Keely’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the civil case, writing in their brief:
“As this Court has already determined Defendant Keely’s actions were objectively reasonable, it benefits no one to have a lawsuit which is frivolous proceed into discovery simply to relitigate a matter already decided.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is appealing the dismissal of the criminal case in federal court; there is no decision on that case yet.
