By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Oral arguments will be heard in September before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle in the case of former Toledo elementary school principal Ron Reynolds who contended the Lewis County coroner had no legal basis for conducting an inquest into the 1998 death of his then-wife, a former state trooper.
[1]Ron Reynolds
His lawyer called the 2011 proceedings scandalous, leading to severe harm to his client’s reputation and employability.
Reynolds’ and his son Jonathan Reynolds were named by the inquest jury as responsible for the death, which the panel concluded was homicide.
Reynolds lost the federal lawsuit against Coroner Warren McLeod and the county when a federal judge granted a summary judgment two years ago. Reynolds appealed.
McLeod said this morning he plans to attend the 9 a.m. Sept. 1 session, which will be heard by a three-member panel of judges.
Ronda Reynolds, 33, was found with a bullet in her head and covered by a turned-on electric blanket on the floor of a closet in the Toledo home she shared with her husband of less than a year and his three sons.
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For background, read “Lawsuit regarding Ronda Reynolds’ inquest moves to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals” from Friday May 8, 2015, here [2]