The research for the federal lawsuit filed by former city councilman Craig Hedquist against the Casper and outgoing City Manager John Patterson has lead to substantial new allegations, an attorney for Hedquist said Thursday.

"The new evidence raises troubling questions about the city's conduct, and it completely undermines the city's claims about Mr. Hedquist's provision of services to the city," said John Robinson of the firm Jamieson Robinson.

"We now know that the taxpayers paid for city officials to pursue a wasteful, politically motivated campaign against Craig," Robinson said. "Our investigation will continue to look forward to setting the record straight in court."

Robinson and Hedquist's other attorneys filed an amended complaint to their case against outgoing City Manager John Patterson in U.S. District Court on Wednesday.

The amended complaint adds Hedquist's construction firm as a co-plaintiff, and adds city engineer Andrew Beamer as a co-defendant.

In the original lawsuit filed in February 2014, Hedquist claimed Patterson tried to retaliate against him after criticisms over a land deal with the Boys & Girls Club and the Natrona County School District during the summer of 2012. Patterson then met with city council candidates to try to thwart his election that fall.

Later, council demanded Hedquist resign, but he refused to do so.

The original lawsuit claimed the city violated his constitutional rights by trying to remove him from office without due process, First Amendment retaliation, Fourteenth Amendment -- property deprivation.

Since then, and after interviews during discovery, Hedquist and his attorneys claim the city's campaign against him cost taxpayers more than $800,000 because the city did not accept his Hedquist Construction Inc. as the low bidder.

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