Brandon Ellingson
A federal judge in Kansas City has ruled a civil lawsuit against the Missouri State Highway Patrol in the death of an Iowa man can proceed.
The ruling says a jury can consider allegations by Brandon Ellingson’s family that his civil rights were violated when the Clive man was handcuffed and then fell off a patrol boat and drowned in the Lake of the Ozarks two years ago.
Trooper Anthony Piercy had arrested Ellingson for boating while intoxicated and was taking him to a patrol office when the 20-year-old Ellingson fell out of the boat and his life jacket came off.
Piercy was charged in December with involuntary manslaughter and that criminal case is scheduled for later this year. A trial in the civil case is scheduled for October in federal court in Jefferson City.