Jury Finds Clallam County 95 Percent at Fault After Rifle Training Accident Cost a Deputy His Leg
After trial: The jury's $30,176,905 gross verdict, with 95 percent fault on the county, came to $28.67 million; the judge adjusted it the next day, and The Seattle Times reported the county was ordered to pay almost $28 million, which is the figure we rank. The county said it was reviewing its legal options, and we found no appeal filing.
Won by Davis Law Group.
A Kitsap County jury found Clallam County 95 percent at fault when a sheriff's deputy's AR-15 discharged during a mandatory rifle qualification in March 2020, leaving him an amputee below the right knee. The September 17, 2026 verdict totaled $30,176,905 before fault was applied, and after the court applied the county's 95 percent share and other adjustments, the county was ordered to pay almost $28 million. The award includes $5 million to the deputy's wife for loss of consortium.
What happened
On March 27, 2020, Matthew Murphy, then a deputy with the Clallam County Sheriff's Office, was completing a mandatory rifle qualification at the county's firearms training facility in Port Angeles. The course required him to carry an AR-15 on a three-point sling and wear over-the-head ear protection. During a required shoulder transition, the sling caught on his hearing protection. He lost control of the rifle, and it fired, striking his right foot.
Murphy had ten surgeries over the next four years in an effort to save the leg. In 2024 he underwent a below-the-knee amputation. The injury ended his career in law enforcement and left him with continuing medical needs.
He sued the county in 2023, represented by Davis Law Group and its founder, Chris Davis. The suit argued that the county had paired a three-point sling with bulky over-the-head earmuffs, an equipment combination it never evaluated against industry practice or its own safety policies, and that it offered no alternative such as foam earplugs. It also said no other sheriff's office in Washington used that configuration or taught that overhead unslinging maneuver, and that range staff watched Murphy struggle with the tangled rifle without stepping in. A full-day mediation in October 2024 produced no settlement offer from the county, and a later offer from Murphy to settle was not accepted, so the case went to trial. The jury had to decide who bore the fault.
The case went to a Kitsap County Superior Court jury, which returned its verdict on September 17, 2026. It found Clallam County negligent, found that negligence a proximate cause of Murphy's injuries, and assigned 95 percent of the fault to the county and 5 percent to Murphy.
The gross award was $30,176,905: $20 million in past and future non-economic damages to Murphy, $5,176,905 in past and future economic damages, and $5 million to his wife, Margaret Conway, for loss of consortium. Applying the 95 percent share brings the county's responsibility to roughly $28.67 million. The judge took up further adjustments the next day, and The Seattle Times later reported that the county had been ordered to pay almost $28 million.
The county said it was meeting with counsel to review the verdict and explore its legal options. The firm said it expected the county to appeal.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Peninsula Daily News, 'Jury awards former Clallam County Sheriff's deputy $30 million', Sept. 21, 2026·Archived copy
- 2.The Seattle Times via The Chronicle, 'Clallam County to pay almost $28M after gun accident cost deputy a leg', Sept. 27, 2026·Archived copy
- 3.Police1, 'Former Wash. deputy awarded $30M in suit over firearms training incident', Sept. 2026·Archived copy
- 4.KOMO News, 'Jury awards $30.17M to Washington deputy who lost leg in AR-15 training accident', Sept. 2026·Archived copy
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