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Geoffrey Fieger representing parents of man shot by Munising officer

Associated Press

MUNISING, MI--   A Munising Police officer is facing a civil suit filed by the parents of a man he shot and a well-known attorney. 

Criminal charges were not brought against Officer Justin Schlabach in the July shooting death of Timothy Mitchell.  Marquette County Prosecutor Matt Wiese said Schlabach lawfully acted in self-defense when Mitchell aggressively advanced toward him after a high-speed chase.

Geoffrey Fieger disagrees with that assessment.  The former attorney for Dr. Jack Kevorkian has taken on the case and is representing Mitchell’s parents.  He’s filing an excessive force complaint as part of a federal civil rights violation case.  Fieger says the whole situation is a cover-up and nothing was done because Schlabach is a white man in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

Fieger is seeking at least $75,000 in damages, but he says what he wants even more is to bring attention to the case. 

No court date has yet been set. 

Nicole was born near Detroit but has lived in the U.P. most of her life. She graduated from Marquette Senior High School and attended Michigan State and Northern Michigan Universities, graduating from NMU in 1993 with a degree in English.