A Kitsap County jury has awarded more than $30 million to a Clallam County sheriff’s deputy who lost his right leg below the knee after an AR-15 unintentionally
A Kitsap County jury has awarded more than $30 million to a Clallam County sheriff’s deputy who lost his right leg below the knee after an AR-15 unintentionally discharged during a mandatory firearms qualification.
On Sept. 17, 2026, the jury returned a $30,176,905 gross verdict for Deputy Matthew Murphy and found Clallam County negligent.
Jurors assigned the county 95% of the fault and Murphy 5% in the firearms-training accident, according to information released by Davis Law Group, which represented Murphy and his wife.
The injury happened March 27, 2020, at the Port Angeles Firearms Training Facility, where Murphy reported to complete the annual firearms qualification required for deputies authorized to carry a weapon.
For the rifle portion, the Sheriff’s Office issued Murphy a county-owned AR-15 fitted with a three-point sling, and he was not permitted to use a sling of his own choosing. The only hearing protection available that day was a set of bulky over-the-head earmuffs.
One of the required drills involved transferring the rifle from the dominant side to the support side, described as a support-side shoulder transition. To perform that maneuver with a three-point sling, a deputy has to lift the sling up and over his head and over the over-the-head hearing protection.
As Murphy performed the drill “exactly as instructed,” the sling caught on his earmuffs; he lost control of the rifle and the weapon discharged, firing a live round into the top of his right foot, according to the release.
Davis Law Group said Clallam County required an unsafe combination of equipment by mandating a three-point sling and issuing over-the-head hearing protection, and that for years deputies had used foam earplugs that posed no entanglement risk.
The firm also said no other county sheriff’s office in Washington was using the three-point sling or teaching the over-the-head unslinging maneuver, and that other agencies use a two-point sling and do not require that maneuver.
The release also alleged the county violated its own safety policies requiring regular evaluation of policies, procedures, equipment and training against current best practices, and said there was no documentation that the county had done so. It further said a rangemaster and an instructor were positioned beside Murphy as he struggled with the entangled weapon and did not stop the exercise.
Murphy underwent 10 surgeries over four years in an effort to save the limb before doctors performed a below-the-knee amputation of his right leg in 2024, according to the release.
The injury also affected Murphy’s family, the firm said, including hiswife’s claim for loss of consortium. The jury awarded her $5 million.
The case was filed in 2023 and tried in Kitsap County Superior Court before Judge Jeffrey P. Bassett, under Cause No. 23-2-00428-18. The release said the parties spent a full day in mediation in October 2024, but the county declined to offer anything to settle. During trial, Murphy offered to settle for $10 million, but the county did not accept and asked the jury to award nothing, according to the release.
The verdict included $5,176,905 in past and future economic damages, $20 million in past and future non-economic damages, and $5 million for loss of consortium, totaling $30,176,905. After the jury’s 5% fault allocation to Murphy — and before any other court-ordered adjustments — the award would be reduced to approximately $28.67 million, which the release described as believed to be the largest personal injury verdict in Kitsap County history.
The Clallam County Sheriff's Office issued this official statement in response to the verdict:
"Clallam County acknowledges the verdict returned by a jury in Kitsap County Superior Court in the matter involving Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Murphy.
County officials are meeting with legal counsel to review the verdict and explore all available legal options.
Clallam County does not comment on active litigation. Because this matter remains subject to active and potential post-trial proceedings, the County will not comment further on the evidence, verdict, or legal issues at this time."
