By Ralph Bartholdt
Lewiston Tribune
LEWISTON — A 27-year-old Lewiston man who was a passenger in an uninsured cab that crashed while he attended a drug court program is suing Nez Perce County for an undisclosed amount, according to a complaint filed in 2nd District Court.
The suit filed by Joshua A. Wright, who was booted out of Nez Perce County drug court for non-compliance last year, also names Idaho’s Department of Correction, probation and parole, the city of Twin Falls, D and S Checker Yellow Cab and Courier, and a cab driver.
Wright, who is represented by Lewiston attorney Paul Thomas Clark, charges he was involved in a one-car rollover crash while a passenger in a cab traveling from a southern Idaho treatment facility to a bus stop in Twin Falls Jan. 8, 2014. The cab, D and S Checker Yellow Cab and Courier, had been contracted by the county drug court team to transport Wright, according to the lawsuit.
At the time of the crash, Wright was technically in the custody of the Nez Perce County Jail as a participant in the specialty court program, according to the suit.
A month earlier, he relapsed by allegedly smoking methamphetamine while in a pre-release stage of Nez Perce County drug court, according to the 2nd District Court criminal file, and was almost kicked out of the program. Instead, the drug court team sent him to a southern Idaho treatment facility in January. Wright was traveling on the interstate highway in a cab whose driver he alleges was going too fast.
The cab, a 2002 Dodge Caravan, was westbound on Interstate 84 near Jerome when the driver lost control of the vehicle and caused it to roll, resulting in injuries to Wright.
Wright charges in the suit that the cab driver was a two-time convicted felon, which prompted the plaintiff to unknowingly violate the terms of his probation.
“The state of Idaho, its Department of Correction, its Bureau of Probation and Parole and Nez Perce County were further reckless, willful and wanton ... (for putting Wright) into a vehicle with a known felon and in violation of (Wright’s) terms of probation,” according to the lawsuit.
The city of Twin Falls, Wright alleges, issued the cab company a license despite knowing about the uninsured driver, and the company didn’t carry adequate insurance.
When Wright returned to Nez Perce County following his stint at the The Walker Center, court documents indicate, he failed to comply with drug court procedures. He was terminated in May 2014 from the drug court program.
A court date on the lawsuit has not yet been set. Wright is in custody at the Idaho Correctional Institution at Orofino.