A jury in federal court in Pendleton concluded this week that Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash did not violate the First Amendment rights of a former Baker City man who was arrested by a sheriff’s deputy at the abandoned lime plant near Huntington on Aug. 1, 2017.

Adam Nilsson filed the lawsuit in August 2019 in U.S. District Court.

A trial took place Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 25 and 26. The jury returned its verdict on Wednesday, Sept. 27.

Ash issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon:

“Today, justice was served. I am pleased with the verdict the jurors returned. Throughout this lawsuit, I vehemently denied the claims that Mr. Nilsson has made against myself and this office. As Baker County Sheriff, I have consistently worked to earn the public’s trust and will continue to do so.”

Nilsson, who represented himself at the trial, said he was “prepared for the verdict when the jury sent a note to the judge asking for a definition of the First Amendment.”

“I am satisfied, and glad to be done,” Nilsson said on Thursday, Sept. 28. “It was a complex case; the jury deliberated for almost four hours. Judge (Michael) Mosman said on the record that my closing argument was the best he has ever heard from a pro se litigant (a plaintiff representing himself in court). It would have been interesting to see the outcome had I moved for judgment as a matter of law. But I said I would take it to a jury and let the people decide, so that is what I did.”

The jury considered the one remaining claim in Nilsson’s original lawsuit.

After filing the lawsuit in 2019, Nilsson submitted an amended complaint on April 1, 2021, naming as additional defendants Jef Van Arsdall, then the Baker County undersheriff (he has since moved out of the county), Deputy Gabe Maldonado and two other officers from the sheriff’s office, Lt. Will Benson and Sgt. Eric Colton.

Nilsson’s amended suit also named as defendants Baker City, then police chief Wyn Lohner, and detective Shannon Regan.

Nilsson contended that the defendants violated his constitutional rights under the First, Second and Fourth amendments.

The Fourth Amendment claims are based on a warrant search that the sheriff’s office conducted of Nilsson’s Baker City home and vehicle. That search stemmed from the Aug. 1, 2017, incident at the abandoned lime plant near Huntington in which Maldonado cited Nilsson, who was then a Baker City Council member, for trespassing with a firearm and criminal mischief.

The claims against the city, Lohner and Regan were dismissed on Aug. 23, 2021, after their attorney filed a motion stating that Nilsson’s claims were not timely.

On Sept. 22, 2022, Andrew Hallman, a U.S. magistrate judge, recommended that Ash and the county’s motion for summary judgment — meaning Nilsson’s claims would be dismissed — be granted for all but one of those claims, including his contention that Ash violated his Second and Fourth amendment rights.

Hallman recommended that the claims against Van Arsdall, Maldonado, Benson and Colton also be dismissed.

On Nov. 22, 2022, Michael W. Mosman, senior U.S. District judge, agreed with Hallman’s recommendation and dismissed all the claims in Nilsson’s suit except the First Amendment claim against Ash.

Mosman determined that that issue would be decided at trial.

Nilsson contended that Ash retaliated against him, including by participating in the search of Nilsson’s vehicle and home, after Nilsson complained to the sheriff about how he was treated by police during the incident at the lime plant. Nilsson also gave media interviews about the lime plant incident in which he complained about how Maldonado treated Nilsson and Nilsson’s friend who was with him at the lime plant.