Leelanau County may be ready to settle a nearly year-old federal court case in which two Leelanau County sheriff's deputies are alleged to have assaulted a drunk driving suspect and violated his civil rights by entering his home and hauling him off to jail nearly two years ago.

The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners went into closed session Monday to discuss the case with county attorney Christopher Cooke. Under the Open Meetings Act, public bodies such as the county board are allowed to hold closed sessions to discuss pending litigation with an attorney present.

Prior to the closed session, however, the board heard some details about the case from Leelanau County Undersheriff Scott Wooters and Sheriff Mike Oltersdorf. Both asserted that Deputy Duane Wright and Deputy James O’Rourke acted properly on Jan. 29, 2005, when they arrested Charles M. Hameline at a residence in Elmwood Township. Hameline is the plaintiff in the case while Wright and O’Rourke are defendants.

Wooters said that Wright had spotted Hameline’s car in a ditch and followed footprints in the snow from the car to the residence. The residence was the home of Hameline’s mother, Cathy Engel, who had been working as a dispatcher at Leelanau County’s 9-1-1 operations center. Wooters noted that Engel has since been fired from her job as a dispatcher. County emergency services director Tom Skowronski said Engel was caught sleeping at her post; Engel has publicly challenged Skowronski’s decision to fire her.

Wooters told commissioners that Engel complained to the Sheriff’s Department following the incident involving her son and the deputies, but that Hameline himself never lodged a complaint with the Sheriff’s Department before filing his federal court suit against the deputies.

Wooters explained that Hameline was never convicted of drunk driving because a judge questioned whether Deputy Wright had a legal right to enter the residence. Instead, Hameline was issued a careless driving ticket, Wooters said. He added that Hameline was violent, requiring that the officers pepper-spray and restrain him.

On the advice of its attorney, Cooke, the county board voted to go into closed session to discuss the case further with Cooke, Wooters and Oltersdorf. The vote to go into closed session was 6-1 with District No. 4 commissioner Mary Tonneberger opposed.

Last month, a federal court judge appointed a case evaluation panel of three attorneys to consider the case and recommend a possible settlement. The panel’s determination has not yet been made a matter of public record.

Following Monday morning’s closed session, the county board voted 7-0 “to accept the recommendation of counsel” regarding the case. County Board chairman Robert W. Hawley declined to answer a reporter’s questions about what Cooke had recommended.