ChicoSol contributor Dave Waddell today sued Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey — as well as the Chico Police Department, the City of Chico and the sheriff — over withheld public records related to officer-involved shootings.
The lawsuit filed in Butte County Superior Court states that it “arises from the repeated and ongoing failure of the leadership of the law enforcement community” to comply with the California Public Records Act.
Asked to respond, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said he hadn’t yet seen the lawsuit and would refrain from comment at this time.
The lawsuit says the DA, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office and Chico PD have responded to record requests by “slow-footing” promised releases, “over-redacting limited footage,” and “dubiously claiming” that records must be withheld because the incidents are under investigation.
The suit filed by San Francisco attorney Matthew Cate deals with Waddell’s failure to obtain public records related to five officer-involved shootings – both fatal and non-fatal – dating back to 2022.
In his ChicoSol story, “Butte County police-shooting probes stall” published in August, Waddell noted that Ramsey has failed to issue any reports on police killings since 2020 and on non-fatal police shootings since 2017. As a result, cases have been left open and under investigation for years.
In California, county district attorneys are generally responsible for determining whether officer-involved fatal shootings are legally justified.
“The district attorney is the common denominator in this pattern of obstructing the public’s right to know,” Waddell says in a press release sent to media today. “I brought suit because I’m concerned Ramsey will never release any records ever again because he thinks he’s politically powerful enough to get away with it.
“And, short of legal sanctions, he’s probably right.”
The lawsuit seeks a court order that would force the release of records related to two law enforcement killings that took place earlier this year and three non-fatal shootings:
- On March 2, Michael Oxley was killed by a Chico Police Department SWAT team;
- On May 8, Valerie Ann Cadwallader was killed by a Butte County sheriff’s deputy;
- On Nov. 30, 2022, an agent with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage and Control (ABC) shot at a SUV in a Safeway parking lot. No one was seriously injured, but Chico PD conducted recorded interviews about the incident;
- On April 15, 2024, a Chico police officer and a sheriff’s deputy fired at the car of Jason Sampson, who was struck by a bullet.
- On April 18, 2024, sheriff’s deputies fired at Travis McCarty, hitting him in the leg.
The lawsuit does not attempt to offer views on whether law enforcement shootings were justified; instead it describes what seems at times like an impenetrable bureaucracy.
In the case of the Oxley killing more than nine months ago, Waddell requested public records on Aug. 20. Waddell says he requested “disclosable records relating to reports, investigations, findings” and records related to any “administrative discipline” of the officers who were involved.
The lawsuit says that several months later – and after Waddell received contradictory responses from the DA, Chico PD and the County Counsel’s office and submitted “five requests for clarification” – there were still no records releases from the DA’s office.
The lawsuit states that “the DA’s Office now told Waddell that it was ‘continuing to investigate the use of force used in the Oxley incident and the completion date is dependent upon the resources available in the office to complete the investigation.’”
Chico PD, meanwhile, released body-worn camera footage and video beginning on Nov. 10 that was “redacted without justification,” according to the lawsuit.
In the case of the Cadwallader killing, the DA’s office has released nothing and said a records release could “reasonably be expected to interfere with the investigation” of the May 2025 shooting.
The lawsuit states that video and audio recordings can be withheld for more than 45 days after a shooting only in certain circumstances. But even then, “… other records relating to officer-involved shootings—for example, incident and investigatory reports, autopsy reports, or records reflecting witness interviews – are also presumptively public” unless certain conditions can be met.
In general terms, an agency must provide specific reasoning in writing showing that the records would interfere with a criminal investigation or enforcement.
Waddell prevailed in a 2022 Public Records Act lawsuit against Chico PD seeking records in four officer-involved killings. That lawsuit cost the City a total of at least $93,637. (Waddell says the City paid $43,637 in his attorney’s fees, and public records show it paid out another $50,000 fighting the lawsuit.)
Cate is a former journalist and a First Amendment attorney who Waddell says is “very dedicated” to reinforcing the rights of the public to information about its government.
“There is no greater use of government authority than when that power is used to take someone’s life,” Waddell wrote in today’s press release. “History has taught us that revealing the truth is the only way to ensure accountability.”
Leslie Layton is editor of ChicoSol.
Given the corrupt history of this man Mike Ramsey born and raised in Oroville, CA, graduate from UC Berkeley in 1960’s , re-elected mostly due to his Krohnes hold on the office due to a “good ole boy” No viable candidate will run against him for 2 good reasons; 1 they do not want to clean up after the crappy mess his administration has made including serious violations in Civil Rights, and letting street addicts and criminals have a playground to do what they will since they know they can get away with it with little or no consequence , corrupt politicians and business men alike. Recent the owner of the Winchester Goose who was arrested for stalking a woman and even placing a RF transceiver on her car and the recent scandal of Officer Bass who recently left his job as a Chico Police Department only after severely contributing to damaging the reputation of the Chico Police Department with domestic abuse as well as making this community a haven to racist hate groups like White Supremist and Ponzi Scheme artist and ID Theft scams. Now I watch a Mike Ramsey TV interview this year with making a vow to now target child abusers and molesters in the community, what a joke.
Dave Waddell = Hero. That he needs to school the DA on the law and time per the law to respond to FOIA requests – isn’t that rich?