A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the City of Madison by the family of a man shot to death by Madison police in 2019.

U.S. District Judge Liles Burke dismissed the lawsuit, filed on behalf of the family of Dana Fletcher, on Feb. 17, arguing that it was a “shotgun pleading” – meaning it made too many allegations unsupported by evidence.

In a 19-page order, Burke dismissed federal claims and state law claims now barred by statutes of limitations with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled with the court. The rest of the state law claims were dismissed without prejudice as to refiling in state court.

In his order, Burke said the plaintiffs had “repeatedly failed to present their claims discretely and succinctly.”

The suit, filed in 2021, deals with the events surrounding the Oct. 27, 2019 shooting death of Dana Fletcher, who died in the parking lot of a Planet Fitness.

The family alleged that officers unlawfully tased, beat and released a police dog to bite Fletcher before shooting and killing him.

The lawsuit said Dana Fletcher was with their eight-year-old daughter sitting in the passenger seat of his wife’s parked van, while Cherelle worked out at Planet Fitness. Police arrived and confronted Dana Fletcher shortly after Cherelle Fletcher returned to the vehicle.

Authorities previously stated that police went to the shopping center that day to investigate reports that Dana Fletcher was taking pictures and asking “weird” questions inside the gym.

At a press conference about three weeks after the deadly shooting, District Attorney Rob Broussard showed news reporters still images from bodycam footage, which showed a gun in Fletcher’s hand. Fletcher’s family maintains that he was unarmed.

The federal lawsuit alleged that the city’s customs and practices of policing are unconstitutional, and accused police of excessive force, unlawful detention, false imprisonment, false arrest, conspiracy to interfere with civil rights, wrongful death, and other offenses. The suit listed 19 defendants, including the five unnamed officers who responded to the incident, the current and former police chiefs, Mayor Paul Finley and current and former city council members.

Burke’s opinion noted that Fletcher’s lawyer filed two amended complaints, after the defendants argued that the originals were “shotgun pleadings.” Burke stated that the filings made multiple claims against multiple defendants without specifying which one was responsible for what individual act.

Burke did not allow the plaintiffs another chance as the court had already warned them “that they would not have another chance to amend.”