SPOKANE CO., Wash. – Representative Matt Shea filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss all claims against him and move to strike the defamation complaint filed against him by a Spokane County deputy.
Shea alleged a gun, once owned by Deputy Travis Pendell, was used by Roy Murry to kill his estranged wife’s mother, stepfather and brother. Shea made the accusations on his podcast, though both Pendell and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich have called that accusation a lie.
The defamation lawsuit states that in the podcast Shea said, “It was reported by a source that Deputy Travis Pendell, when they ran the firearm that Roy Murry had, that that firearm came back to the Deputy Travis Pendell, who has a federal firearms license and is now the subject of an investigation because apparently when asked where the gun was he didn’t know and he didn’t know where it got where it got.”
The lawsuit alleges that Shea knew his conduct was negligent and malicious and would result in damage to Pendell.
In the motion, Shea requests that he be dismissed with prejudice or in the alternative, Mr. Pendell only be allowed to re-file these claims upon three conditions: That Mr. Pendell pays the costs of Mr. Shea in bringing the motion, Mr. Pendell and his counsel not be allowed to plead certain items, and Mr. Pendell not be allowed to file or serve this matter during a time that is forbidden by the Constitution.
