Trooper assault lawsuit settled

Women get $1 million from state; criminal case remains

By Tatboline Brant/Megan Holland

Anchorage Daily News

      Five village women who sued the Alaska Department of Public Safety saying an Alaska State Trooper physically or sexually assaulted them have settled their case against the state for nearly $1 million, lawyers for the women said Thursday.

      The state and lawyers for the women agreed to the settlement this week, leaving only the criminal case standing against Daniel L. Scott.

      State attorneys involved in the case could not be reached for comment Thursday. But the attorneys for the women, in a prepared release, said, "Our clients wanted to make sure Scott is convicted and that he does not sexually assault or rape any other women."

      Scott, an 18-year veteran of the troopers, was arrested Nov. 16 in Aniak, where he worked and lived, on charges of rape, kidnapping, assault and official misconduct. He was accused of assaulting four women from Aniak or surrounding villages, sometimes while on duty.

      Scott is due to go to trial for the criminal charges Aug. 15.

      All four of the women were represented in the civil suit. The fifth woman involved in the civil case is from Aniak. She claims in the suit that Scott raped her while he was on duty and she was extremely drunk, according to Michele Power, one of her attorneys.

      Power, one of five attorneys for the plaintiffs, said it is not clear why Scott wasn't charged in relation to the woman's allegation. "From our view, (he) could have been," she said from her office in Bethel.

      Attorneys for the women said troopers ignored warning signs about Scott, 45, but they also gave state officials credit for taking responsibility now through the settlement.

      "These are women who have been emotionally damaged by the wrong done to them. I think they feel relieved the state has taken responsibility for its own negligence," lawyer Christine Schleuss said.

      All of the women involved were Native and some were intoxicated at the time of the assaults, Power said. "This seems to be some kind of a victim that Scott looks for -- someone who's almost defenseless," she said. "And he used the uniform to gain the trust of these women."

      The civil suit against Scott and the state was in the beginning stages of discovery when the state offered to settle, said Russ Winner, another of the attorneys for the women. He said the settlement came extraordinarily fast and not all of the evidence against Scott had yet been revealed.

      The state said there were three criminal investigations of Scott while he was a trooper in Fairbanks but none resulted in charges, Winner said.

      In 2000, Scott was transferred to Aniak. The Kuskokwim River community of about 550 people has a trooper post, and Winner said at least two people, a man and a woman, complained to troopers there about Scott's inappropriate behavior.

      Winner said the woman, who became part of the civil suit against the troopers, told troopers in 2002 and 2003 that Scott was verbally harassing her. Her complaints went ignored, he said. The woman claims Scott raped her in 2004.

      Top state public safety officials could not be reached late Thursday. They have said in the past that they took swift action against Scott when they became aware of complaints against him.

      Public Safety Commissioner William Tandeske told reporters in a somber press conference shortly after Scott's arrest in November that he hoped the public would take some comfort in the fact that troopers threw enormous resources at the investigation and arrested Scott within seven days of being tipped off by a citizen complaint.

      Charging documents filed at Scott's arraignment accused him of forcing one woman to perform oral sex on him in a patrol vehicle after arresting her in Aniak for drunken driving. Another woman told investigators Scott used a "police move" to physically restrain and rape her outside her home, charges say.

      Power said she and her colleagues are pleased with the settlement. The awards ranged from $300,000 to $100,000 per person. It was unclear Thursday how much of the $930,000 settlement the attorneys get.

      Power said the case has been "very, very difficult" for all five of the women. "They have suffered extreme emotional distress," she said, explaining that one had trouble eating and had lost her job and another was in counseling. "All of them have a problem with men in uniform," she said. "That really impacts their ability to fully utilize public safety."

      Scott, who jail officials say is out on bail, did not participate in the settlement with the state.