An Iowa judge said Bellevue and its police department were not to blame for Angela Prichard's estranged husband murdering her, despite the department's failure to enforce a restraining order or arrest warrant.
Chief Judge C.J. Williams, whom former President Donald Trump appointed in 2018, dismissed a federal civil lawsuit filed by Angela Prichard's family against Bellevue and the Bellevue Police Department on Monday.
The Prichard family sought damages for the police department's "state-created danger" in "showing favoritism toward Christopher Prichard," Angela's estranged husband, which the Marietta Daily Journal reported "enabled and fostered" his ability to shoot and kill her at work on Oct. 8, 2022.
Christopher broke Angela's restraining order multiple times without consequence because he had "a personal relationship" with at least one of the city's deputies, the lawsuit alleged, after he provided electrical services at a reduced rate or free of cost for officers.
Judge Williams stated the lawsuit failed to present "cognizable claims" against the defendants because a complaint filed in federal court "demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation."
He also rebuffed claims about Christopher's relationship with deputies, claiming the lawsuit did not "provide any facts that would show 'a personal relationship' between Christopher and defendants..."
In its defense, lawyers for the city of Bellevue argued that the court should "focus solely on the hours" leading up to Angela's murder. Additionally, they claimed the city's police officers are not responsible for individuals' wellbeing but rather general public safety.
Christopher Prichard is currently serving a mandatory life sentence in prison for the first-degree robbery and first-degree murder of his estranged wife, the Bellevue Herald-Leader reported.
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