By Alabama Public Radio
Decatur, AL – A federal lawsuit alleges that authorities used excessive force when two deputies shot and killed a suspected bootlegger. June Hulett sued two Morgan County sheriff's deputies and other authorities who were involved in the 2002 raid that killed her husband, James. Hulett is white; her husband was black. She says the deputies abused her by taunting her with racial slurs while forcing her to crawl on her stomach. Police reports say James Hulett was shot at his home in Decatur during a raid for illegal alcohol sales. Authorities say Hulett pulled a gun, and the officers shot him. But the lawsuit says he was unarmed at the time of the shooting. The Morgan County Commission did approve paying at $2600 deductible to an insurance company toward the legal claim. But attorneys for the deputies would not comment on the suit. A grand jury did not indict any of the officers involved in the shooting. Hulett, meanwhile, pleaded guilty in 2003 to selling alcohol without a license. She received a suspended sentence and was placed on probation.