CLARENCE MABIN / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, August 20, 2006 7:00 pm
A Richardson County Sheriff’s deputy has claimed he accidentally shot a Falls City woman during a suspected drug deal between the woman and a nursing home resident earlier this month, Attorney General Jon Bruning said Monday.
Ann Marx, a former employee at the nursing home, Victory Village Retirement Home, died from a single gunshot above her left eye in the Aug. 13 incident.
The deputy, identified by Bruning as Todd Landis, 42, has been placed on administrative leave pending a grand jury investigation.
Officials have been tight-lipped about the investigation, and Bruning’s disclosures Monday were in defiance of a gag order imposed by Richardson County District Judge Daniel Bryan.
Bruning said Monday he was mystified by the order, especially since a grand jury has yet to be convened in the shooting.
State law prohibits prosecutors from publicly disclosing the identities of grand jury witnesses or their testimony, or the identities of the jurors, Bruning said.
But, he said, nothing in the law bars prosecutors from discussing the facts of cases.
“The grand jury statutes are very clear,” said Bruning, whose office was named special prosecutor in the case Aug. 16. “Testimony is secret. The identity of jurors is secret. The facts of a case are not secret.”
Said Bruning: “Frankly, I’m offended by it. I’m tired of it. I believe the public has the right to know the facts of cases.”
A spokeswoman for Bryan said he would not comment on the attorney general’s action.
Bruning said he and Sen. Ernie Chambers would write proposed legislation for the upcoming session that would clarify the state’s grand jury law.
Eric Marx, a son of Ann Marx, declined comment Monday, on the advice, he said, of the family’s attorney.
Bruning said Monday that Landis was “distraught” over the shooting and he has said his gun accidentally discharged. Bruning said, however, the grand jury would have to investigate the deputy’s claim.
According to a Nebraska State Patrol investigator’s report to Bruning, the Richardson County Sheriff’s office received information from a confidential informant that Marx was going to buy drugs from a nursing home resident outside the home about 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 13.
The drugs were apparently painkillers, Bruning said Monday.
Family members said in an interview last week that Marx provided nursing support at the assisted living center for about five years. Her medication aide license expired in January, and she lost her job, the family said.
Deputies, acting on the confidential informant’s tip, staked out the nursing home, Bruning said. At some point that evening, Marx pulled up in her vehicle and was being approached by the resident.
Landis, who had been hiding in nearby bushes, received a transmission from another deputy to, “Go, go, go,” and he approached the vehicle on the driver’s side with his gun drawn.
Bruning said Landis’ weapon discharged after Marx tried to drive off.
Officials are awaiting toxicology reports to complete Marx’s autopsy. Once the autopsy is certified, Bruning’s office has 30 days to convene a grand jury. Bruning’s office said toxicology results were expected in about three weeks.
Bruning on Monday likened Bryan’s gag order to an order by Lancaster County District Judge Steven Burns earlier this year that prohibited the attorney general from releasing court documents related to a planned grand jury investigation of Nebraska Regent David Hergert.
Burns later lifted the order.
Bruning also said Bryan filed a complaint against him with the Counsel for Discipline in the Matthew Koso case. Bruning said the counsel dismissed the complaint.
Bryan sentenced Koso in February to 18 to 30 months in prison for having sex with an underage girl. Bruning’s office prosecuted the case.
The substance of the complaint could not be determined Monday. John Steele, an attorney in the Counsel for Discipline office, said the office could neither confirm nor deny the existence of a complaint unless a defendant approves, in writing to the office, public disclosure, or unless an investigation results in discipline.
Bruning said Monday a member of Bryan’s office contacted his office that morning before the news conference and reminded him of the secrecy order, signed by the judge Wednesday.
Reach Clarence Mabin at cmabin@journalstar.com or 473-7234 .