Judge muzzles kennel suit

PALMER — A Wasilla woman engaged in a years-long fight with Wasilla over a kennel permit lost part of her lawsuit Monday.

Deborah Luper alleges in her lawsuit that the city of Wasilla denied her a kennel permit for her Shelties then maliciously prosecuted her case, abused the process set up for kennel permits, and that then-Mayor Diane Keller interfered with Luper’s employment at Matanuska Electric Association.

The case dates back to 2004 when Luper moved to the Bay View subdivision with her dogs. Her neighbors complained and the city cited her.

Monday, Superior Court Judge Vanessa White pointed out that Luper lost her case when she brought it to Superior Court to challenge the constitutionality of the kennel permit process. Although she’s now appealing the case, the fact that she lost is proof that the prosecution was not malicious.

As to the abuse of process claim, Luper offered up a handful of statements to bolster her claim.

“The mayor told Mrs. Luper that she may as well not file her application for a kennel because it would not be granted,” her attorney Ken Jacobus said via telephone.

Also, “The city would use its superior economic power to grind Mrs. Luper into the ground,” Jacobus said.

White found none of the statements convincing, saying none amounted to the type of act legally required to prove abuse of process.

White gave Jacobus more time to flesh out his arguments on the malicious prosecution claim.

Luper was not present at Monday’s hearing. The case is next scheduled for a court hearing in June.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.