Deputy cleared in fatal shooting

A coroner's jury on Friday quickly found that sheriff's deputy Geno Cook was justified in shooting an armed man.

Terrance Sidener, 56, of Marion, died from a single gunshot to the chest. Deputies were called to Sidener's home on Jan. 22 for a domestic disturbance. Sidener reportedly threatened his wife and ultimately pointed a loaded semi-automatic pistol at deputies before he was shot.

County Attorney Ed Corrigan called five witnesses and showed a videotape of the shooting taken by the camera mounted in Cook's patrol car.

Cook described the events that began with Shannon Sidener's 2 a.m. phone call to the sheriff's office. Her husband, who was drinking, threatened her and piled weapons in their living room.

"It's a pretty volatile situation" when domestic hostilities mix with alcohol and firearms, Cook told the jury.

He and deputy Luke Foster parked their patrol cars in the Sidener driveway to use as cover. Their sergeant, Daryl Bain, was on his way, talking to Sidener on the phone, trying to calm him down.

Cook first saw Sidener when he appeared outside his house.

"He's got a rifle in his right hand and a black phone in his left hand," Cook said.

"Drop the gun, drop the gun," Cook commanded. Sidener responded, "F-- you. Shoot me."

When Sidener went back inside, Cook and Foster conferred about how they were going to handle the situation, knowing Shannon Sidener was inside and in potential danger.

Sidener came outside again.

"This time he has a pistol in his hand," Cook testified.

That meant the situation had escalated because the handgun could fire more rounds, faster, than the rifle, he said.

Also disturbing to Cook was Sidener's demeanor.

"He basically has no emotion. He didn't appear agitated, sad, happy, nothing. I wanted to negotiate this with him peacefully and he wasn't letting me in," Cook said.

Next, Shannon Sidener emerged from the house and made her way to the officers. She got into Foster's patrol car. He drove her a safe distance from the house.

Even though she was out of danger, the deputies still had to deal with Terrance Sidener. Cook's trepidation increased when Sidener fired a round into the ground.

"The weapon is loaded and he's willing to shoot. That just escalates the situation," Cook testified. He and Sidener continued a repetitive dialogue, with Cook telling Sidener to put down his gun and Sidener responding with profanity, saying, "Shoot me."

Sidener went into his house and then re-emerged. This time, he didn't stay on the porch but started walking towards the officers, waving his gun.

"He is creating a confrontation," Cook said.

By then, Bain had arrived and continued the conversation he had started on the phone with Sidener. Sidener kept advancing, waving the gun, moving to within 25 yards of the deputies until he followed Bain's orders to stop and put his gun on the ground.

"He just stood there," Cook said. "I remember him saying, 'No, no,' and then he reached down and grabbed the gun. Somebody said, 'Put it down. Don't do it.' He stood up, raised [the gun], brought it to bear on sergeant Bain … I shot him," Cook said.

He said he "absolutely" believed Sidener would shoot Bain.

"Did Mr. Sidener give you any choice?" Corrigan asked.

"No," Cook said.

"It's very sad," a juror said. Bain flinched when Cook fired, she noticed from the video. "Daryl Bain looked like he thought he was shot."

Bain and Foster testified that they also believed Sidener was prepared to shoot.

"Somebody was going to get shot. Deputy Cook, deputy Foster and myself were in jeopardy at that time," Bain said.

Foster testified that he saw the situation the same way Cook did. He also was prepared to shoot to protect Bain.

"I remember I took a deep breath and bit down real hard when [Sidener] picked up the gun. I started to squeeze the trigger, and boom," he said. Cook had already fired.

Undersheriff Mike Meehan testified that a sheriff's office shooting board reviewed the incident and found Cook's shooting to be justified and within the department's policy.

Detective Lt. Roger Nasset of Kalispell Police Department led an independent investigation of the shooting. He said he knows of no nonlethal situation that would have subdued Sidener. In fact, he believes officers would have been justified to shoot sooner than they did, he said.

"Mr. Sidener, with a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, was playing for keeps," Nasset said.

He believes that Sidener was depressed, had been drinking, was engaged in a domestic dispute and had financial problems - all red flags to officers in a situation involving a gun.

One out of 10 police shootings is "suicide by cop," he said. In those cases, people who are unable to actually kill themselves provoke an officer into doing it for them, he said.

The sheriff's office has had only one other shooting in decades.

It was the first coroner's inquest Corrigan has conducted. Lincoln County Coroner Steve Schnackenberg presided.

In the informal proceeding, jurors are allowed to ask questions of witnesses, and they did.

One juror asked Bain why officers didn't use a Taser gun to electrically shock Sidener into submission. The range of a Taser is only 21 feet, Bain said. Sidener was too far away.

Another juror asked Meehan why deputies don't aim at a suspect's limbs instead of firing a lethal shot.

Meehan said officers are trained to stop a threat as they must.

"There are not set guidelines for trying to wound somebody," he said.

Nasset said, "A wounded individual can still use deadly force."

In about 40 minutes, the jurors returned with the forms indicating their unanimous belief that the shooting was justified.

When they returned to the courtroom, some expressed their relief that Cook and Bain were not hurt.

Corrigan, too, was relieved with the outcome of the inquest. The jury's findings are only advisory. He can decide whether criminal charges should be filed against an officer, no matter what the jury does.

In this case, his decision is easy, he said.

"There was never any doubt in my mind that [Cook] did what he had to do," Corrigan said.

Cook, with 15 years of law-enforcement experience, has never been disciplined or reprimanded for excessive force, he told the jury. His wife, Anne, sat beside him throughout the proceedings Friday.

Cook said he got a lot of support and wanted to say "a huge thank you to everybody - people I work work, family, people in the community. It's all made it much easier to handle."

"I'm glad things turned out the way they did" at the inquest, Corrigan said. "He is one of the good guys."

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com