[VA] Sheriff thinks he has "sovereign immunity " in the murder of deputy's ex-wife Jennifer Carter Agee

Jennifer Louise Carter Agee

...In his response to the lawsuit, Sheriff Hunt claims sovereign immunity (basically that you can't sue the government) should protect him from being sued in this case...

FRANKLIN COUNTY SHERIFF RESPONDS TO MEMORIAL DAY SHOOTINGS LAWSUIT
WSLS
By: Morgan Donnelly
November 09, 2011
[Excerpts] WSLS has obtained the response of Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt, to a lawsuit filed by the family of Jennifer [Louise Carter] Agee. Agee was killed in a Memorial Day shooting spree in Roanoke.  Police say Jennifer Agee's ex-husband, former Franklin County Sheriff's deputy Jonathan Agee, shot and killed her at the Sheetz across from the Roanoke Civic Center. In his response to the lawsuit, Sheriff Hunt claims sovereign immunity (basically that you can't sue the government) should protect him from being sued in this case. Agee family attorney Greg Habeeb disagrees. "It is not a surprise they would file sovereign government immunity, but sovereign government immunity does not apply to gross negligence.  So we are confident that facts that are plead are more than sufficient,” said Habeeb... "We have a lot of faith in the jury system, and we are going to do everything we can for this family”... [Full article here]

PREVIOUS POSTS:

• [VA] SHERIFF KNEW that Deputy Agee was on the way to kill ex-wife Jennifer - but didn't send out the alert - Almost a half-hour before Jennifer [Louise] Carter Agee was shot to death on Memorial Day, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office was warned that her sheriff's deputy ex-husband [Jonathan Agee] had an assault rifle and was driving to Salem to kill her. But Sheriff Ewell Hunt told his dispatch center not to issue a "be on the lookout" alert to other law enforcement agencies, saying he would take care of the situation himself...
• [VA] Text of Franklin County dispatch radio log when Sheriff Hunt withheld alert before Jennifer's murder - Below is the text from the Franklin County Virginia Sheriff's Department dispatcher's radio log reflecting the time prior to and after the seemingly preventable death of Jennifer Louise Carter Agee. It is being distributed in different forms by the media that are difficult to take excerpts from - so I've converted it to text here. If you notice any errors please let me know and I will correct them.
• [VA] $20M Lawsuit: Sheriff Hunt knew his deputy was in transit to kill Jennifer Louise Carter Agee - and did nothing - ...[Now-fired Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy Jonathan] Agee is accused of shooting Jennifer [Louise Carter] Agee to death May 30 in the Sheetz convenience store parking lot on Williamson Road in Roanoke, in front of one of their daughters... On the day of the shooting, Agee's current wife warned [Franklin County Sheriff Ewell] Hunt that her husband had an assault rifle, was on his way to see Jennifer Agee and threatened to kill her, police said. But according to radio logs, Hunt said he would handle the situation himself...

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