FERRIER FILES: Officer Josh Lippert will not face lawsuit for Jocques Clemmons' death
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Metro Nashville Police Officer Joshua Lippert, who shot an armed Jocques Clemmons one year ago, will not face a civil rights lawsuit or a wrongful death lawsuit.
Metro Police Officer Joshua Lippert may be involved in the most investigated officer involved shooting in Nashville history. In the end, he was cleared and now he can't be sued either.
The one year time limit on filing civil rights violation and wrongful death lawsuits has expired, and the Clemmons family filed nothing.
Officer Lippert is represented by two lawyers John M.L Brown and David Raybin. On Wednesday, they offered the first interview ever on the situation.
“This is the end," Attorney David Raybin said. "This officer was cleared by every law enforcement agency that looked at it. There was never any civil rights violation. Officer Lippert did nothing wrong. And the FBI, the TBI, and Metro internal affairs all agreed."
It was an intense investigation, and there were all kind accusations flying around. Things were so tense that for the first time ever the district attorney of Davidson County brought the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate the shooting.
The Clemmons family said they would seek justice with a civil rights lawsuit, even with the official findings. They even sued each other to determine who could sue the police department for millions.
One year after the shooting, there is no lawsuit and the statute of limitations has run out.
“This officer did nothing wrong," Ryabin said. "His family has suffered. He has suffered. There have been accusations and name-calling. None of it is true. There was no civil rights violations, and there is no case."
Sheila Clemmons, mother to Jocques Clemmons, had a GoFundMe page raising money for the Jocques Clemmons legal fund. The fund reached $3,100 when she wrote that there would be no lawsuit. She said she would use the money for two of his sons' educations.
These kinds of lawsuits have no financial limits. Families can sue for millions so why then did this die unfiled?
“I want to emphasize these lawsuits have no monetary limits," Raybin said. "If you win, you get attorney fees back. There is a lot of incentive for lawyers to take these kinds of cases. Nobody took this case. It is pretty obvious it is because there is no civil rights violation here."
Sheila Clemmons did not want to comment on the situation, saying she just didn’t want to talk about it.
