A former Metlakatla man previously charged with first degree murder has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against over 30 parties connected to the case. The lawsuit alleges that Isaac Henderson, who was 18 years old at the time of his brother’s death in 2021, was wrongfully indicted and prosecuted for murder.
It alleges that Henderson immediately described the shooting as an accident and self-defense, which evidence supports. Henderson was charged with murder following a mishandled investigation, leading to years of prosecution.
Last year, Ketchikan Superior Court judge Daniel Doty dismissed the case, barring re-filing of the same charges.
In the dismissal order, Doty said officers of the Metlakatla Police Department wrote false and misleading information on evidence logs, relied on false and incomplete witness narratives, destroyed evidence, withheld key documents from the defense, and lied multiple times under oath. Doty said that due to the severity of the discovery violations, there was “no hope of a fair trial.”
Former MPD Chief Bruce Janes said that the investigation was “very sloppy” and “probably the worst I’ve ever done.”
There are 35 defendants total in the complaint, including former Metlakatla Police Chief Janes, former MPD officers Austin McKeehan and Jason Henry, and Metlakatla Mayor Albert Smith. There are multiple other unidentified defendants, including “Metlakatla Indian Community policymakers” and “unknown governmental entity defendants.”
The lawsuit alleges that the harm from the public accusation of murder extended beyond the court. The tribal council permanently evicted Henderson from the Annette Islands Reserve citing safety concerns. It caused him to lose his tribal benefits and home community.
Henderson seeks both compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney fees, costs, interest, and all other relief available under federal and state law.
Henderson’s attorney, John Phillips, said in a statement that the case is not an attack on Metlakatla. “Metlakatla is a proud community, and its people deserve police work worthy of that pride,” he said. “They do not deserve a system where key evidence is ignored or destroyed, records cannot be trusted, and an 18-year-old is left to face a murder prosecution for years.”
The defendants will have the opportunity to respond in court and all allegations will be resolved through the judicial process, according to a statement from Phillips.
