UPDATE: Gregory Grant, an attorney at Cummings McClorey Davis & Acho, PLC, representing the defendants has provided a more detailed statement to Keweenaw Report and My UP News. Find the statement included in the updated article below.
Seven Houghton County sheriff employees have been named in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a former inmate who alleges they failed in their duty to prevent an assault while he was incarcerated in 2021.
Dean Goding filed the lawsuit in late 2025 against individuals currently or formerly employed by the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office. Goding alleges the sheriff’s office did not perform its duty to prevent the assault by a fellow inmate.
The defendants include current Sheriff Josh Saaranen, who was a lieutenant detective at the time of the incident, former Undersheriff Kevin Coppo, Keith Raffaelli, Anthony Audio, Rudy Tikkanen, Gregory Wakeham and Doug Hebner.
According to the lawsuit, Goding was assaulted by fellow inmate Donald Moore on Jan. 5, 2021, while housed at the Houghton County Jail. The assault left Goding unconscious for a short time and resulted in a broken nose.
A U.S. District Court judge recently ruled against the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case, allowing the lawsuit to proceed in federal court. The ruling came despite Goding’s inability to appear for two prior scheduled depositions. One deposition scheduled for June 2025 was canceled due to Goding’s incarceration in the Chippewa County Jail. A second deposition set for October 2025 was missed after Goding was moved to a federal prison in Pennsylvania.
Federal District Court Judge Paul Maloney ordered Goding to repay the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office a $150 cancellation fee for the missed June 2025 deposition.
Sheriff Saaranen said in a statement that “the allegations made by the plaintiff against defendants are not true and that we cannot comment on pending litigation.”
A lawyer representing the seven HCSO employees, Gregory Grant with Cummings McClorey Davis & Acho, PLC, provided a more detailed statement on Saturday. “There is no merit to the allegations made by the plaintiff. His constitutional rights were not violated. This was an isolated incident where he was assaulted by another inmate because the other inmate believed that the plaintiff called him a racial slur. My clients had no warning that this would occur. The plaintiff was promptly given medical attention. He is currently incarcerated in federal prison.”
Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request include an inmate assault incident report showing Goding was moved to MAX 3 in the Houghton County Jail an hour before the incident, though the report does not specify why the move occurred.
According to the report, Goding told Deputy Wakeham that Moore entered his cell and confronted him about racial slurs Goding believed came from Cell 312, then assaulted him. The report states that video footage shows Moore entering the cell, leaving and returning, and appears to show him stomping on an unconscious Goding.
When Deputy Wakeham asked Goding if he wished to press charges, Goding replied yes. Wakeham then questioned Moore about the incident, and Moore became increasingly angry when asked further questions before being placed on lockdown. It is unclear whether criminal charges were filed against Moore for the assault.
Goding was treated for his broken nose by an emergency room physician.
The documentation request revealed that the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office does not have specific written policy regarding inmate-versus-inmate confrontations, and those policies remain unchanged.
Detective Lt. Charlie Klein explained the office’s current approach: “If the confrontation is not criminal then the jail does a rules infraction report. If the confrontation is criminal in nature, a road patrol deputy will investigate like any other criminal complaint.”
The case remains active in federal court, find the original complaint file here.
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