News Update:

August

First Circuit Affirms the Right to Record in Public

On August 26, 2011, the First Circuit issued an opinion affirming the First Amendment right of people to videotape police officers or other government officials engaged in their duties in public places. NPAP members David Milton, Howard Friedman, and Sarah Wunsch brought a lawsuit on behalf of Simon Glik, who was arrested and charged with illegal wiretapping for openly using his cell phone to record what he believed to be police brutality by the Boston police.

To read the First Circuit opinion click here.

July

ACLU, Maricopa County Reach Settlement in Lawsuit By U.S. Citizen, Legal Resident Illegally Arrested During Worksite Raid

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona announced that it has settled a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) over the illegal stop, arrest and detention of a U.S. citizen and a legal resident during a 2009 immigration raid at Handyman Maintenance, Inc. in Phoenix.  As part of the settlement, Maricopa County  agreed to pay $200,000 to Julian and Julio Mora and their lawyers in exchange for the dismissal of the lawsuit. ACLU and NPAP member Dan Pochoda (Arizona) and NPAP member Stephen Ryals (Missouri) were attorneys in the case, together with Cecilia Wang, Andre Segura and Annie Lei from the ACLU.

To read the federal court decision click here.

To read the complaint click here.

Taser to Pay $10 Million to Family of 17 year old Darryl Turner

A federal court jury in North Carolina awarded $10 Million to the family of Darryl Turner, who died in 2008 after being tased by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer. In this verdict for wrongful death the jury found that TASER negligently failed to warn that discharging its Taser model X26 into the chest of a subject near the heart poses a substantial risk of cardiac arrest to persons against whom the device is deployed.

The case is litigated by NPAP member attorneys John Burton and Peter Williamson, as well as local counsel Charles A. Everage and Los Angeles attorney John F. Baker.  TASER Inc. announced it will appeal the decision.

In 2009 , the city of Charlotte settled a civil rights case with Turner's family for $625,000.  The officer discharging the Taser in a manner inconsistent with existing police department policy was suspended for five days and required to undergo additional training.

To read the press release click here.

For the verdict form click here.

Homeless Individuals Living on LA's "Skid Row" win Preliminary Injunction

The eight plaintiffs and their attorney NPAP member Carol Sobel brought this civil rights class action to enjoin the city of Los Angeles from confiscating and destroying personal property left behind temporarily by homeless people.

The plaintiffs alleged that the removal and destruction of possessions left in public spaces by homeless men and women in order to use bathroom facilities, get a meal, or appear in court was undertaken by the city in furtherance of an ongoing practice and policy of ridding the area of the homeless population.

To read the preliminary injunction click here.

Officer's Refusal to Lie about Use of Force by other Officers is protected by First Amdendment

In a case in which NPAP members Scott Korenbaum (NY), Larry Vogelman (NH) and Andy Read (CO) filed an amicus brief in support of plaintiff Jason Jackler, the Second Circuit ruled on July 22 that an officer's refusal to change a report and lie about the use of force by other officers is protected by the First Amendment.

To read the decision click here.

$230, 000 Settlement in First PLN Case Challenging Prison Postcard Policy

According to Paul Wright, editor of Prison Legal News (PLN) and NPAP board member, Spokane County agreed in a consent decree to pay $230,000 and abandon policies that violate prisoners' constitutional rights to free speech and due process.  One policy required family members and friends of jail inmates to write their messages on postcards, which according to Jesse Wing, one of the attorneys representing PLN, had a profoundly chilling effect on speech.

To read the entire consent decree click here.

June

BART Pays 1.3 Million To Oscar Grant's Mother

John Burris, NPAP board member and attorney for the family of Oscar Grant III, announced that Wanda Johnson, Grant's mother, has settled her civil suit with the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police for 1.3 million. The unarmed Grant was shot and killed on New Year's Day 2009 by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle who alleged that he mistook his gun for his Taser and accidentally shot Grant who was lying face down on the train platform. Mehserle was convicted to two years for involuntary manslaughter and released in June after serving 11 months. BART previously settled with Grant's daughter Tatiana for $1.5 million.

City of Houston Found Liable by Federal Jury For Violating Civil Rights of Thousands over 4 Years

In May 2008 over 100 Houston police officers illegally raided the Pink Monkey - a legal after hours club in the revitalized Houston downtown area.  Police were caught on film tackling and slamming completely innocent people to the ground and then illegally detaining hundreds for up to two hours without any suspicion.  The Pink Monkey was the culmination of 4 years of illegal raids involving thousands of patrons, mostly people of color, at about 30 legally operated clubs around Houston. The case is litigated by NPAP member Randall Kallinen.

To read the entire press release click here.

Federal Jury Awards Whistleblower Polk County Deputy $260,000

A federal jury in Madison has awarded a whistleblowing Polk County Deputy Sheriff $260,000 in damages after finding that he was the victim of a retaliatory internal investigation at the hands of former Polk County Sheriff, Timothy G. Moore.  Arling Olson, who still serves as Deputy Sheriff in Polk County, ran for sheriff against Moore in 2006 and cooperated in an investigation carried out by the state Division of Criminal Investigation in 2007 into whether Moore had surreptitiously videotaped the interview of a criminal defendant in 2002 and beaten an arrestee in handcuffs in 2003. The case is litigated by NPAP member Jeff Scott Olson.

To read the entire press release click here.

Settlement Reached in Philadelphia Stop and Frisk Class Action

This settlement stems from a federal class action filed by the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the law firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg on November 4, 2010, on behalf of eight African-American and Latino men who were stopped by Philadelphia police officers on the basis of their race or ethnicity. The suit alleges that thousands of people each year are illegally stopped, frisked, searched, and detained by the Philadelphia Police Department as part of its stop-and-frisk policy.

On June 21, 2011, the city of Philadelphia and attorneys for the plaintiffs announced that they had reached a settlement agreement. As part of the settlement, the Philadelphia Police Department will collect data on all stop and frisks and store this information in an electronic data base.  It will also provide officers with necessary training and supervision with respect to stop and frisk practices. Additionally the agreement establishes a monitoring system in which the police department, plaintiffs counsel, and an independent court-appointed monitor, Dean JoAnne A. Epps, from the Beasley School of Law at Temple University, will review and analyze the data. Dean Epps will have the authority to recommend appropriate practices and policies to ensure that stops and frisks by the PPD are in compliance with the Constitution.

To read the complaint click here.

To read the settlement agreement click here.

Man Beaten by Police while in Insulin Shock Wins $217,784

The damages were awarded by a Federal jury to Doug Burns, a Type 1 diabetic. In April of 2007 Burns was at a movie theater when he began to experience very low blood sugar. While he was walking to the snack bar to buy a candy bar in order to stabilize his blood sugar, a security guard mistook the cause of Burns’s disoriented state and called the police.

By the time two Redwood City Police officers arrived, Burns was completely disoriented and experiencing insulin shock. When he tried to reenter the theater, one officer pepper-spayed him, and they both threw him to the ground. While pinning him to the concrete, they beat him. When a third officer arrived, he joined in. Then two more officers showed up, and they participated as well. Burns’s apparent need for medical attention was ignored. He was also wearing a medical bracelet that stated he had diabetes. After being arrested, he told one of the defendants that he had diabetes. The paramedics that treat Burns for the pepper-spray and injuries inflicted by the officers administered a basic blood test that found his blood sugar to be extremely low. They then took him to the hospital. Despite his apparent condition, Burns was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. Prosecutors dismissed the charges.

Burns sued Redwood City and the individual officers for violations of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights as well as the injuries and expenses that stemmed from the beating. Doug Burns was represented by Michael Haddad and Julia Sherwin, of Oakland and Donald Galine of San Mateo.

To read the complaint click here.

To read the trial brief click here.

Colorado Prosecutor Liable for Illegal Search

Judge Lewis Babcock has granted plaintiff Thomas Mink’s motion for summary judgment in his suit against Deputy District Attorney Susan Knox for violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The suit stems from the seizure of Mr. Mink’s computer in 2003 after he was accused of criminal libel, a felony in Colorado that is still on the books.

Mink’s accuser is a professor at the University of Northern Colorado who is parodied in Mink’s internet newsletter. The satirical newsletter comments on the UNC community and has a fictitious editor whose name and likeness are distortions of the professor. The court found that any reasonable person, including the prosecutor who signed off on the warrant, would view Mink’s site as satire.

The judge viewed Knox’s claim of not reviewing the materials in the affidavit attached to the warrant (a printout of the webpage) as disingenuous. Even if she really had not seen it, the judge commented that, “the defense of qualified immunity would be extended beyond all reason if a prosecutor could avoid liability for an unconstitutional search and seizure by not reviewing the supporting documents.” With all of this under consideration, Judge Babcock found that “Mr. Mink has established that Ms. Knox alleged conduct violated his Fourth Amendment rights because there was no probable cause to believe that he had committed criminal libel.

Mr. Mink is represented by ACLU attorneys Bruce Jones, Marcy Glenn, Valerie Simons and ACLU of Colorado Legal Director Mark Silverstein. This is their third victory in this ongoing case. First they successfully won a denial of absolute prosecutorial immunity and then a denial of qualified immunity at the appellate level.

To read the order click here.

$1 Million Settlement After Man Dies Being Restrained by Police

Attorney John Burton has won a $1 Million dollar settlement from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The lawsuit was on behalf of the family of Dustin Boone. The 29 year-old Boone died in November of 2009 after being put in a sleeper hold by one of three officers who were called to his house.

A mental health professional working with the schizophrenic and bipolar Boone called police because he believed Boone was off of his medication. Boone had been burning papers in the fireplace. The mental health worker wanted the police to take Boone to the hospital for an evaluation. When the officers enter the house through an unlocked door, Boone was sitting watching baseball. They chased him outside where an officer applied the sleeper hold. The young man lost consciousness and could not be revived. The medical examiner ruled he had died from cardiopulmonary arrest as a result of the neck restraint.

First Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Summary Judgment After Inmate Suffers Horrible Detention

Jesus Ramos suffered a needlessly excruciating heroin withdrawal in 2003 while in the Worcester County jail. While enduring “extreme dehydration, acute renal failure…malnourishment…and total collapse of the right lung,” Ramos had to lie in “the foul products of chronic incontinence and vomiting.”

Ramos brought a suit claiming violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause for reckless indifference. The trial court granted the defendants summary judgment. The court concluded that Ramos had failed to go through and exhaust the jail’s grievance procedure and that his negligent treatment did not reach the level of deliberate indifference. In an opinion written by Justice Souter, the First Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court and upheld its ruling. Jesus Ramos is represented by Worchester attorney Hector Pineiro.

To read the opinion click here.

Class Action Suit Certified for 2004 RNC Protestors

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has certified the class action lawsuit representing 1,800 people who were arrested and detained during the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. The court granted certification to six of the eight mass arrest subclasses as well as classes pertaining to excessive detention and conditions of confinement.

During the August, 2004 demonstrations, New York City police used netting, barricades and large numbers of officers to corral and arrest the thousands of protestors, bystanders and media members represented in the suit. The people arrested were not given orders or time to disperse. One group of cyclists was trapped by police after obeying an order to turn down 35th street, where police blocked off all exits and arrested everybody.

It was police policy to keep all those arrested in custody so that they would not be able to participate in later demonstrations during the convention. Many of the plaintiffs were kept for more than two days. Those in custody spent their time bound in plastic handcuffs at Pier 57, a huge warehouse that had been used to keep city busses. Environmental reports identified asbestos, oily waste on the concrete floor and several code deficiencies with the electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems. As a result of these conditions, plaintiffs developed rashes, blisters, stinging eyes and coughs.

The plaintiffs are being represented by Jonathan Morre and Clare Norins of the New York City firm Beldock, Levine and Hoffman.

To read the order click here.

May 2011

Jury Awards Lawrence, Massachusetts Resident $130,000 in Police Brutality Case

On May 11, a federal jury awarded Eusebio Alicea $130,000. The majority of the money must be paid by Kyle Wilcox, an ex-police officer who had been fired for excessive force in 2007. In January of that year, Wilcox arrested Alicea and brutalized him. Wilcox beat him with metal-knuckled gloves and, in a “malicious and sadistic” manner, washed pepper spray out of Alicea’s eyes with very hot water.

Alicea is being represented by Worcester attorney Hector Piniero. They are currently also pursuing a Monell claim against the city of Lawrence. Ex-Officer Wilcox is also busy with four further police brutality suits in which he is the defendant.

Attorney Michelle Burrows Wins $390,000 for Client Who Nearly Died While Incarcerated

 In July 2009, Katherine Newcombe filed a lawsuit against the medical staff at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility near Portland, Oregon. She accused them of medical malpractice and violating her constitutional right to essential medical care. She had suffered permanent heart damage while serving a seventeen-month sentence.

Mrs. Newcombe nearly died of congestive heart failure in 2007 when prison medical staff ignored her repeated pleas for help and apparent symptoms over the course of several months. When she was finally taken to the emergency room, it was discovered that she had bacterial endocarditis. This is an illness that is easily treatable when diagnosed early, but Coffee Creek staff dismissed her suffering and attributed it to anxiety, heartburn, the flu and menopause.

Mrs. Newcombe’s case came to an end in April when her attorney, Michelle Burrows won a $390,000 settlement. However, due to the damage done to Mrs. Newcombe’s heart while in prison, this settlement will just barely cover her lifelong expected medical bills.

April 2011

Former Inmate Wins Case Against Jail Superintendent and Former Guard

A federal jury has awarded $73,700 in damages to Christina Chao, a former inmate at the South Middlesex Correctional Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. Ms. Chao is being represented by Andrew Fischer of Jason and Fischer in Boston.

After Chao was incarcerated in 2003, she became involved in a sexual relationship with a corrections officer named Moises Ballista. While Ballista has claimed that this relationship was completely consensual, Chao said that she felt pressured into the relationship out of fear that she would be disciplined. Ballista, who admitted at the start of the federal trial that he routinely had sexual relations with female inmates, was convicted five years ago in state court on charges of having a sexual relationship with inmates.

The Superintenent, Kelly Ryan, was found liable for failing to prevent the sexual relations in spite of a history of accusations against Ballista that reaches back to before Chao was sent to the jail.

West Virginia State Police Lose Appeal for Summary Judgement in Excessive Force Case

Attorney Harry Waddell is representing Steven Witt in his excessive force suit against several officers of the West Virginia State Police. The suit stems from an incident that occurred on January 8, 2007. As Witt, his girlfriend and her children were pulling into the driveway of her home, first one and then two other state troopers arrived and confronted Witt. The troopers believed that Witt was Daniel Anderson, a man of similar build and a friend of Witt’s girlfriend. Unfortunately for Witt, Anderson was wanted for several crimes.

The troopers demanded that Witt identify himself and produce identification. According to Witt, before he could prove who he was, the troopers pulled him out of the car and threw him to the ground. He was kicked, kneed, and hit in the head with one trooper’s pistol. He suffered facial and scalp lacerations and an orbital fracture. Witt’s girlfriend and her children corroborate his version of events.

The court’s opinion, written by Circuit Judge Diana Motz, points out that an appellate court in such a case can only rule on “purely legal questions related to qualified immunity” that are “formally raised” in the appeal. Judge Motz states that the appellate court “may not reweigh the record evidence ‘to determine whether material factual disputes preclude summary disposition.’” Besides dismissing the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, Judge Motz also comments on the police dashboard video. Motz writes that the silent video of poor quality is ambiguous at best and that a police investigator concluded that it actually corroborated elements of Witt’s version of events.

To read the opinion, click here.

New York Court of Appeals Reverses Dismissal of Wrongful Conviction Case

In a 7-0 decision, the New York Court of Appeals has reversed lower courts’ dismissal of Douglas Warney’s Section 8-b Unjust Conviction Act claim. The decision describes the case’s earlier dismissal as premature and “inappropriately made credibility and factual findings, dismissing Warney’s claim without giving him the opportunity to prove his detailed allegations that he did not cause or bring about his conviction.” Mr. Warney is being represented by Anna Benvenutti Hoffmann of Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP in New York City.

On January 3, 1996, William Beason was stabbed to death, and Warney called the Rochester police the next day. During a police interview at his house, he said that he had seen his cousin enter Beason’s house and that his cousin confessed to killing Beason. Later the police brought him to the station for questioning and used “escalating coercive tactics to force” a confession. They also fed him details of the crime that had been withheld from the public. Warney has an IQ of 68 and was suffering from AIDS-related dementia at the time. Having had dealings with Warney before, the police new of his mental defects. At trial he was convicted, with his signed confession being the primary evidence against him. Nine years after his conviction, DNA testing exonerated him and was matched to another man (whose fingerprints were also matched to the scene).

The Court of Appeals’ decision addresses several open questions in Section 8-b law, all favorably for the claimant.  It holds that the normal pleading rules that a claimant’s factual allegations must be taken as true and no credibility determinations or weighing of the evidence should take place at the pleading stage apply equally to 8-b claims (although they do note that 8-b claims require more detailed factual allegations than other claims).  It also holds that for a claimant’s own conduct to “cause” his conviction in the meaning of the statute, it must be the proximate cause, and discusses several specific allegations of Warney’s conduct and why none of them could be the proximate cause of the conviction.   

To read the opinion, click here.

March 2011

Seventh Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment in Case of Chicago Antiwar Demonstration Mass Arrests

The Seventh Circuit has reversed the District Court’s granting of summary judgment to the defendants in Vodak v. City of Chicago. The plaintiffs in the suit are nearly 900 people who were arrested en masse during a demonstration against the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March of 2003. Joey Mogul of the People’s Law Office in Chicago is representing them.

The marchers never had a permit, but it was the informal and time-tested practice in Chicago that if a permit was not explicitly denied, then a march could go forward. Demonstration organizers had presented a proposed route to police, but nothing was set in stone. When groups of marchers, ignorant of these plans, began to veer off of the hypothetical route, police began blocking access to Michigan Avenue, an important commuter route and posh retail area. The plaintiffs were a group of demonstrators and bystanders that became pent up when police blockades were set up on both ends of one block. With police lines to their front and rear, they were unable to disperse when ordered, and police moved in and arrested them.

The Seventh Circuit’s opinion mentions several reasons why the nearly 900 arrests were inappropriate. The plaintiffs supplied 250 affidavits attesting that no order to disperse was even given. It is also unclear why the police would assume that these orders, if given, could have been heard by the many thousands of marchers. And this is all taking for granted that the police and all of the marchers would know what it meant to “disperse” in this instance. The crowd trapped between the police lines also did nothing to provoke the riot gear-wearing officers. In the words of the opinion, they were merely “milling about, predominantly peaceably.”

The opinion also states that the City may be found responsible because the police superintendent is Chicago’s sole policy maker when it comes to policing mass demonstrations. The police superintendent was at his headquarters monitoring the antiwar march and approving his subordinates’ decisions, including the decision to arrest the hundreds of demonstrators and bewildered bystanders who became the case’s plaintiffs.

To read the Seventh Circuit's decision, click here.

Spokane County Jail Changes Postcard-Only Rules

Seattle attorney Jesse Wing, representing The Prison Legal News, has successfully forced Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich to change part of the mail policy at the county jail. When the previous policy was in effect, all incoming and outgoing inmate mail had to be on postcards. The motivation behind the rule was the elimination of contraband and ensuring the safety of prison staff. 

Previously blocked mail included non-profit publications, which triggered the suit. Now these and business publications are allowed into the prison. Personal mail and outgoing mail must still be on postcards, but now senders must be told why mail is rejected and can appeal such decisions.

Attorneys Win In Limine Motions to Bar Police’s Prejudicial Characterizations of Plaintiffs and their Neighborhood

Thomas Peters, Kevin Peters and John Brayman, with help from Samantha Liskow and Sarah Gelsomino, have won a motion to keep Chicago Police defendants from labeling their clients’ actions as “furtive” and another motion barring descriptions of their clients’ neighborhood as a “high crime,” “high drug” and “gang” area. Judge Milton Shadur granted the motions.

The need for the motions became apparent during the defendants’ (Chicago Police Officers Sean Lewis and Robert Rivera) depositions. They described the area as a “violent zone” controlled by the not so subtly named Satan’s Disciples gang. The defendants also used these characterizations and their painting of the plaintiffs as shifty to support their motion for summary judgment, calling such descriptions “undisputed fact.”

During these depositions, the defendants could not provide any personal knowledge or experiences to support these claims. In their combined eight years of experience, neither officer remembered any calls relating to violent crime at the block in question, nor could they recall ever being told by other officers that it was an especially dangerous block. In his decision, Judge Shadur found the officers’ descriptions to be utterly subjective and seeming to contain a prejudicial agenda.

To read Judge Shadur's order, click here.

Prison Legal News Reaches Settlement with Galveston County Jail

Major changes to the Galveston County Jail’s publications policy are the result of a lawsuit filed by Prison Legal News last summer. Previously, inmates were only allowed to receive reading materials under “special circumstances,” and one jail sergeant said that inmates were not allowed to receive books or magazines at all. Along with changing this policy, the County Sheriff has agreed to order several self-help, educational and legal books for the prison’s library as well as a two-year subscription to the Prison Legal News.

Prison Legal News is an eleven year-old project of the Human Rights Defense Center. It publishes a monthly magazine that includes reports, reviews and analysis of court rulings and news related to prisoners’ rights and criminal justice issues. It is edited by NPAP board member Paul Wright. Their website includes a database of articles, new reports, court rulings, verdicts, and settlements.

The plaintiffs praised Galveston Sheriff Freddie Poor’s decision to quickly change the jail’s unconstitutional policy and not waste government resources in a losing battle. Prison Legal News was represented by Scott Medlock, an attorney based in Austin and Director of the Texas Civil Rights Project’s Prisoner’s Rights Program.

Attorney Jon Schoenhorn Wins Ruling Ordering Disclosure of Police Informant’s Identity

Hartford Attorney Jon Schoenhorn has won a ruling from the U.S. District Court in Connecticut ordering the Waterbury Police Department to present the identity of a confidential informant. The police claimed during a deposition that the informant has gang ties that would place him in danger if his cooperation with law enforcement were known. A police attorney also mentioned in a tossed-off manner that his identity was privileged anyway.

The court found that the informant’s identity and very existence – something the plaintiffs are calling into question – are relevant to the unlawful imprisonment suit Mr. Schoenhorn’s client is pursuing against five Waterbury detectives. The court also found that the defendants made no express claim of privilege. Nor did the defendants ever seek a protective order for the informant.

To read the Court's order, click here.

February 2011

Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Claim Against Los Angeles County Sheriff

With just one dissenting judge, the Ninth Circuit remanded for further proceedings plaintiff Dion Starr’s suit against Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca. NPAP Board members Samuel Paz and Sonia Mercado are representing Mr. Starr. They allege unconstitutional conditions of confinement in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Starr’s suit stems from an attack he suffered by fellow inmates at the LA County Jail and Baca’s alleged history of indifference to the jail’s violent and unsafe conditions.

While Starr was an inmate at the county jail on January 27, 2006, a group of inmates gathered at his cell door and began threatening him. When he yelled for help from the guards, a deputy actually opened Starr’s cell so the crowd could enter it. While he continued to scream for help, Starr was stabbed twenty-three times by the group. After the attackers dispersed, a deputy commanded the bleeding and moaning Starr to “shut up, nigger.” He then kicked the prostrate Starr in the face, nose, and body several times while other deputies watched.

To show Baca’s supervisory liability for the incident, the plaintiff’s attorneys compiled an exhaustive history of such incidents being brought to Baca’s attention. His near complete inaction in dealing with these incidents was presented as evidence of his deliberate indifference. Baca’s knowledge of incidents and lack of reaction goes back fifteen years. A 1999 Department of Justice memorandum ordered Baca to address and correct “the continuous constitutional violations” that inmates were subject to. A follow-up report by the DOJ found noncompliance with many of their recommendations. During a six-month period in 2003-2004, five inmate killings occurred while his lawyer kept Baca abreast of the situation. Baca’s Special Council also told him that, of the twenty-nine cases of police misconduct that had been settled for $100,000 or more, only eight resulted in any disciplinary action or change in department policy. Many more such examples are listed in the court’s opinion.

January 2011

Attorney Olu Orange Wins $1.7 Million for Family of LAPD Shooting Victim

On an early morning in March 2008, LAPD Officer Joseph Cruz found Mohammad Chaudry, a 21 year-old autistic man, lying in the bushes near an apartment building. According to Cruz’s testimony, Chaudry attacked him while wielding a knife. The encounter ended with Cruz shooting and killing Chaudry.

On behalf of Chaudry’s family, NPAP member Olu Orange filed a lawsuit against Cruz and the City of Los Angeles. DNA on the knife Cruz claimed Chaudry had did not match the shooting victim. Another part of Cruz’s story came into question when he claimed to have never met Chaudry before. A witness testified to multiple encounters between the two.

With these discrepancies in mind, as well as the fact that Cruz had already been fired by the LAPD for dishonesty stemming from an unrelated incident, the jury disregarded Cruz’s testimony and found him to have used excessive force. The jury then awarded Chaudry’s family $1.7 million in damages. The City of Los Angeles has not yet announced if it will appeal the verdict.

Orange County, California Jail System Ordered to Fix Numerous ADA Violations

On January 7th, attorney Virginia Keeny won an order from Judge Audrey Collins mandating that Orange County, California create a plan to remedy an extensive list of Americans with Disabilities Act violations at its jail. Keeny was working on behalf of a number of disabled detainees. The plaintiff’s suit was originally filed in 2001.

The plaintiffs were able to compile an exhaustive list of barriers and impediments. The shower in one ward alone contained five barriers that were in violation. One inmate’s shower routine provides a good example of the ridiculous lengths disabled inmates had to go to in order to circumvent the barriers: “Plaintiff Conn had to ask two other inmates in Ward C to lift him and his wheelchair over the concrete barrier and into the shower, while a third inmate would have to stand next to him to make sure he was not dropped…When he was done, Plaintiff Conn had to ask other inmates to return and lift him (naked) out of the shower.” Other inmates shared this routine, and the County’s witness on jail construction added that he had happened upon a similar scene while inspecting the ward. Other violations included inaccessible sinks and toilet flush handles. Toilet grab bars were either nonexistent or did not extend the necessary 54 inches required for ADA compliance.

All of Orange County’s female inmates with disabilities are housed in a single module, and none of its cells are ADA compliant. Also, the only visitor area in this module can only be reached by a flight of stairs. 

Another issue in the suit was that of access to prison programs. The Inmate Programming Building offers classes such as ESL, substance abuse, GED prep and food service. Inmates with mobility or dexterity impairments are not allowed access to this building, and disabled inmates in one module have access only to religious programs. All classes in another module are held up a flight of stairs.

The plaintiffs also showed that the County had failed to educate both inmates and prison staff in ADA grievance procedures. They did not have a grievance form until 2009, when this case was already underway, and did not have a disability category on the form until 2010. None of the prison staff that handled grievances had any training related to ADA discrimination. The notices of ADA rights at the jail are posted at a height that renders them unreadable by those in wheelchairs.

During the trial the County claimed that it could not afford to make all of the necessary renovations and extend inmate programs for those that are disabled. However, they offered little evidence as to the cost of such renovations, and most inmate programs are paid for by the Inmate Welfare Fund, money that comes from the inmates themselves.

The Court ruled that the plaintiffs had carried their burden of proof and that “this case demonstrates widespread violations of the ADA that can only be remedied by widespread injunctive relief…the County will do nothing to make its facilities and programs accessible if the Court does not order it to do so.” In April there will be a follow-up hearing to review the County’s plain for ADA compliance.

November 2010

Jury Awards $266,000 to Man Tasered Multiple Times by California Police

Attorney Panos Lagos has won a $250,000 in compensatory damages and $16,000 in punitive damages for Pittsburg California resident Frederick Jackson. Police had been called to Jackson’s street on the night of March 30, 2008 by an antagonistic neighbor who reported that there was a black man outside with a gun.

When police arrived, they found Jackson in his yard with his two daughters. Jackson, already familiar with police misconduct, immediately put up his hands and consented to be searched. After one of the five officers present cursed at his daughter, Jackson began a short profane back and forth with the police until they fired their tasers at him. With his hands still in the air, Jackson fell to the ground. Jackson suffered extensive facial trauma, a nasal fracture, a right orbital fracture and scarring on his arm. He spent five days in the hospital, a visit that resulted in $60,000 in medical bills and $1,000 in lost income from missing work.

The police claimed that Jackson had been much more aggressive. They said that he had moved towards them and had taken a boxer-like fighting stance with balled fists. They also claimed to have each discharged their tasers only once. Two independent eye-witnesses refuted the officers’ description of Jackson’s actions and said that he had had his hands up until they began tasing. Dataport downloads from the officers’ tasers showed that one officer did discharge his taser more than once.

Victim of Police Beating Awarded $2.35 Million

New York City attorney Rose Weber has won $2.35 million in damages for her client, Yonkers resident Dedan Wilson. A group of police officers had badly beaten Mr. Wilson with their batons after they were called to the house of Mr. Wilson’s sister. He suffered a scalp laceration, a black eye, a busted lip, and back and leg injuries that still cause him significant pain.

Mr. Wilson’s sister called the police after she was attacked by her abusive boyfriend. The boyfriend left after her call, and her brother Dedan came over to console her. When the police arrived, they began to beat, kick, and punch Dedan, both before and after he was handcuffed. Ms. Weber believes that the officers mistook him for his sister’s boyfriend. Dedan was arrested for resisting arrest and assaulting an officer.

After the jury heard the emotional testimony of Mr. Wilson’s family as well as the seemingly rehearsed testimony of the six police officers who were at the scene, they made their $2.35 million judgment. The jury also added punitive damages against all of the officers.

October 2010

$2.1 Million Settlement for the Family of Salinas, CA Police Shooting Victim

Oakland lawyers Michael Haddad and Julia Sherwin have won a $2.1 million settlement on the behalf of Maria Irma Dela Torre’s family. Dela Torre was shot in her own yard by one of the two police officers that had arrived after Dela Torre’s sister had called for an ambulance.

Dela Torre had just had a seizure and had locked herself in her sister’s minivan. Dela Torre seemed disorientated and was trying to start the minivan with a penny as if it were a key. The police ordered her to come out. Officer Robert Balaoro told Officer Mattocks that he was going to taser her when she came out. She complied with the order and was tased by Balaoro. Then Mattocks shot her in the back, killing her.

The officers claimed that Dela Torre was lunging at them with a crochet hook, which they mistook for a knife or an ice pick. Everyone on the scene besides the officers said that there was nothing in her hands. Even while claiming she had a weapon, Balaoro said in his deposition that he did not believe deadly force was necessary and was surprised when Mattocks shot her.

Four months later Mattocks was involved in another shooting during a routine traffic stop. The officer he was with jumped back from the vehicle and erroneously said that he had been shot. Again Mattocks thought he saw a weapon (which turned out in this case to be a wallet) and opened fire. Though he and the other officer fired fifteen shots into the vehicle, luckily neither of the two people inside was hurt. Mattocks is still a member of the Salinas Police Department.

Lawyers for Critical Mass Get Nearly $1 Million from New York City

Rose Weber, Gideon Oliver and Dave Rankin have won a $965,000 settlement with New York City. They were representing members of Critical Mass, a group a cyclists who organize large bicycle rides in Manhattan. The riders claimed that they had been wrongly detained and arrested by officers during events occurring from 2004 to 2006.

The plaintiff’s attorneys were able to demonstrate how absurdly out of proportion the police’s presence had been compared to any possible threat or disturbance. One police response plan for a ride in October 2004, for instance, included 547 officers, 81 sergeants, 29 lieutenants and a dozen captains. To track the fast-moving ride, the department employed a helicopter and more than 100 scooters and bicycles. Some of the officers were organized into arrest teams, according to the documents, which outline preparations for mass arrests that included 20 buses “to transport prisoners and property.”

The awards to the plaintiffs range from $500 for those who were cited for minor infractions, to $35,000 for a plaintiff who was arrested multiple times and was injured because of the arrests.

Flash Grenade Victim Awarded $1.2 Million

NPAP Board member and Attorney John Burris has successfully reached a $1.2 million settlement on behalf of Nicole White. In 2008 the Oakland police raided the home where Ms. White was sleeping because they believed the occupants were connected with gang activities.

During the raid, an officer threw a flash-bang grenade into a hallway. The grenade careened off the wall and landed in the room where Ms. White was sleeping. She suffered burns over eleven percent of her body and was permanently disfigured as a result of the incident. She also spent nearly a month being treated at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco and incurred medical expenses of $400,000.

Burris said there had been no reason to use the flash-bang grenade because police had previously searched the home without using the device and should have known that the occupants would have been sleeping.

West Virginia Man Wins $2.65 Million in SWAT Shooting Suit

NPAP members Nicholas DiCello and Terry Gilbert have reached a settlement of $2.65 million on behalf of Charles Penson of West Virginia. Mr. Penson suffered permanent paralysis as a result of a police shooting.

In order to serve a federal drug warrant, the local SWAT team was waiting for Mr. Penson at the home of an informant when Penson arrived. After a SWAT member answered the door with a pistol in his hand, Penson turned and ran. The officer fired fours times at him, and one shot hit him in the upper back.

Mr. Penson’s attorneys were able to expose the police’s poor training and policies. They also exposed a cover-up to make it appear that their client had reached towards his waist, as if for a weapon, while facing the officer who shot him. 

August 2010

L.A. Law Firm Wins $7.95 Million in Wrongful Conviction Suit

The Los Angeles firm of Litt, Estuar, Harrison, & Kitson has successfully sued the city of Long Beach, California on behalf of Thomas Goldstein for $7.95 million. Mr. Goldstein had been convicted in 1979 of murder. The conviction was primarily based on a jailhouse informant who testified that Mr. Goldstein had confessed to him. Two federal judges and a federal appeals panel eventually ruled that Goldstein was wrongly convicted, and he was freed in 2004.

It turned out that the informant had been offered benefits in exchange for his testimony, something that the informant had denied in his testimony. Even after this denial, the police did not inform the trial prosecutor of the benefits. Long Beach’s head prosecutor also knew of the informant’s deal.

District of Columbia Will Not Appeal Ruling Against Police Checkpoints

The District of Columbia has decided not to seek the overturn of an appellate court ruling that neighborhood checkpoints set up by District police were unconstitutional. Three plantiffs, represented by Carl Messineo and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice, were awarded $3,500, and the roadblocks were taken down.

The roadblocks, labeled the “Neighborhood Safety Zone Program” by the city, were manned for fourteen days during the summer of 2008. They were put up as a response to a spate of shootings in northeast Washington D.C. The tactic has not been used since.

July 2010

Richard Gross and Soledad Rubert win $2.25 Million for False Arrest and Malicious Prosecution

Gross and Rubert’s victory was on behalf of Earl Byam. Mr. Byam had been arrested for the murder of Martin Sweeting in 1993. He was acquitted nine months later after the only non-police witness recanted. Mr. Byam and his wife began their lawsuit for false arrest and malicious prosecution in 1996.

When the detective on the murder case, Carey Brenner, was deposed, he referenced several documents from the Sweeting case file in his defense. In response, the plaintiffs served a notice on November 14, 1997 to produce the case file. This initial notice was simply ignored. In 2002, the New York City Police Department was ordered to produce the file by the Queens County Supreme Court. The NYCPD responded to this order two years later by saying they could not find it. It took another year for the department to come up with a reason: that the file was seized by the FBI. Later the department contradicted itself and claimed that the file had been sent to the district attorney. Finally in 2007, ten years after the initial notice, four documents from the file were produced. The entire file never surfaced. The police never offered an explanation for their piecemeal and half-hearted search efforts.

In 2009, a three member appeals panel characterized the police’s behavior regarding the Sweeting file as “willful and contumacious conduct” and the police’s set of reasons for their behavior as “inadequate, inconsistent, and unsupported excuses.” As a sanction for their actions, the panel threw out New York City’s pleadings and remitted the case to the Queens Supreme Court for an inquest of damages. This decision paved the way for the final $2.25 million settlement that Mr. Byam received.

Victim of Police Assault in Prison Awarded $855,000

Anne Findling and Joel Robbins of Phoenix, Arizona have won $855,000 for their client, a man who was beaten by a detention officer while awaiting trial at the Maricopa County jail. The plaintiff immediately reported the assault but was ignored.

When the plaintiff was found innocent of the charges he was being held on, the detention officer then charged the plaintiff with assault. Other officers failed to support the accuser’s story, and the plaintiff was found innocent of this new charge. It was not the first time this detention officer had beat a detainee and then made an assault accusation to cover himself.

After Robbins established that the officer had lied and that County Sheriff Arpaio had a history of covering up the wrongdoing of his officers, the jury agreed that the plaintiff had been wrongly prosecuted.

Howard Friedman Wins $1.1 Million Against Franklin County Jail

Past NPAP President and Boston attorney Howard Friedman has won a $1.1 million dollar settlement against Massachusetts’ Franklin County Jail. The suit was filed on behalf of 486 former detainees at the prison who were strip searched upon entering prison as well as each time they left for court appearances. They were strip-searched regardless of whether officers had reason to suspect that they were concealing weapons or contraband. This was a procedure that Mr. Friedman successfully contended was unconstitutional.

City of Oakland Settles Over Illegal Search Warrants

Oakland Attorneys John Burris and James Chanin have obtained a $6.5 million settlement from the City of Oakland. Their clients were 104 people who had been the targets of search warrants.

Burris and Chanin filed their case in 2008 when it was discovered that for many years Oakland police officers were claiming that drugs allegedly obtained from informants were tested and served as the bases for obtaining a search warrant from a judge. The drugs were never tested. In many cases innocent people including women and children were treated harshly and in some cases terrorized, according to Burris.

Chanin notes that the Oakland Police Department’s own records reveal that from 2001 to 2008, over 57 percent of all “X-Buy” warrants (warrants based on an alleged drug buy involving a confidential police informant”) obtained by OPD officers on file were based on false information or outright perjury. 

Eighth Circuit Rules Against Bella Villa Police Chief  

The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the opinion of Judge Steven Limbaugh (Rush’s cousin) and ruled in favor of Norman Steibel. Steibel had sued the City of Bella Villa, Missouri and its Police Chief Edward Locke, Jr. for unlawful arrest and excessive force. Mr. Steibel is being represented by St. Louis attorney W. Bevis Schock.

Mr. Steibel is an elderly business owner who had asked Locke to move his patrol car so that one of his customers could get out of the parking lot. The Police Chief would not move his car, and the two argued. Though Steibel cursed and gestured at Locke, throughout the argument the two were separated by a vehicle. Locke arrested him and threw him to the ground, causing injuries.  No criminal charges ever brought.

Now the suit will go back to trial.

June 2010

Julie Hurwitz Wins Damages for Photographers and Forces a Change in Police Procedures

Julie Hurwitz of Detroit law firm Goodman and Hurwitz has won $65,000 from the City of Toledo. She was representing two photojournalists, Jeffrey Sauger and Jim West, who had been arrested while covering a Nazi demonstration in 2005.

When Sauger was arrested, police said that the photojournalist lacked a temporary media credential for the event that had been issued to some news photographers earlier in the day. When he was detained by officers, Sauger was standing in a media area and was wearing his regular press credentials while carrying and using professional photography equipment.

In exchange for a smaller monetary reward, Toledo’s Police Department agreed to change its policies regarding the media. Hurwitz said that the Police Department policy changes should reduce the possibility of arbitrary and unfair arrests of journalists in the future. According to the settlement and its policy changes, the Toledo Police Department must now recognize all legitimate news media at newsworthy public events. The police have also changed their policy regarding who is considered a “legitimate” member of the news media and how officers are directed to interact with the news media. The new policy now prohibits police from erasing or destroying images on photographers' cameras.

To access the new policy, click here

City of Santa Fe Settles for $1 Million Over Man Who Died in Police Custody

In June of 2010, the firm of Rothstein, Donatelli, Hughes, Dahlstrom, Schoenburg & Bienvenu in Santa Fe, New Mexico settled a wrongful death case for $1 million. The victim was a 23 year-old Hispanic man with no criminal history who had been arrested for misdemeanor criminal damage to property while high on cocaine. After being handcuffed without resistance, he refused to get into the police car.

At this point two of the four officers present tasered the victim on the orders of their sergeant. After being tasered 23 times, his ankles were shackled and he was placed face down across the back seat. Then a 200 lb. officer sat on the victim’s upper back in violation of the police’s written procedures. When they arrived at the jail, the victim was dead.

The state pathologist found the cause of death to be excited delirium resulting from cocaine intoxication, while the officers’ means of restraint “significantly contributed to the death.” The manner of death was labeled a homicide. Three of the officers, including the sergeant, were indicted by a grand jury, but the charges were later dropped.

Man Framed by Corrupt NYPD Officer Wins $9.9 Million Settlement

The New York firm of Neufeld Scheck & Brustin have won a settlement of $9.9 million for the wrongful conviction of Barry Gibbs. This figure is the largest civil rights settlement in New York City’s history.

Mr. Gibbs, who is now 62 years old and fighting colon cancer, had spent over 18 years in prison after being framed for the murder of a prostitute in 1986. He was framed by Louis Eppolito, a notoriously corrupt Brooklyn officer. Eppolito was working for the Luchese mob family at the time. The officer coerced a witness into identifying Mr. Gibbs in a lineup, possibly because the real killer had ties to Eppolito’s underworld employers. Eppolito is now serving a life sentence of his own.

$3 Million Awarded to the Family of David Woodman

Howard Friedman, Boston attorney and past NPAP President has won a $3 million settlement against the City of Boston. Mr. Friedman is representing the parents of David Woodman, who died in police custody during the 2008 Celtics title celebrations.

Woodman, who was 22 years old, was leaving a bar with friends when they passed nine police officers standing at a corner. Woodman joked that “there seems to be a lot of crime on this corner.” He was holding a beer at the time, and the officers then immediately arrested him. While cuffing him, they pushed him faced down on the ground. When his mother saw him later at the hospital, she said there were cuts all over his face from the pavement.

Only after Woodman had been lying facedown, cuffed, and not moving did the police flag down a passing ambulance. His parents said he must have been unable to breath for at least four minutes due to the extensive brain damage he suffered. Woodman died days later at the hospital.

Woodman’s parents will use the settlement to start a foundation in David’s name at Emmanuel College, where he went to school. "David was active within Boston, tutoring young students and being a friend to those who lived on the streets. He cared deeply about people who are poor, homeless or looked down on by society,'' his parents said. "The foundation started in his name will continue David’s work by providing empathy, compassion and support to people who are often ignored in this world."

May 2010

NPAP Board Member John Burris has $3.7 Million Award Upheld

A federal appeals court upheld the $3.7 million in damages won by NPAP Board member and attorney John Burris. Burris was representing a parolee named Torry Smith. Smith had sued the city of Oakland and two police offers for false arrest in 2008.

In 2004 the two officers came to Mr. Smth’s home to question him about a connection they believed he had with a drug dealer. They arrested Smith and booked him on a charge of possessing a semiautomatic weapon that they said they
found in his yard. Prosecutors dropped the gun charge, but authorities kept Smith in jail as a possible parole violator for four and a half months.

U.S. Magistrate Edward Chen, who presided over the suit, said that there was substantial evidence that the officers were lying. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld Chen's ruling in a 3-0 decision.

City of Portland Settles $1.6 million Wrongful Death Case

The city of Portland, Oregon agreed to a $1.6 million settlement over the death of James Chasse Jr. It is the city's largest payout for a civil tort claim. The family of Chasse is represented by the firm of Steenson Schumann Tewksbury Creighton and Rose.

James Chasse Jr. was a 42-year-old mentally ill man. In September of 2006, he was arrested by three Portland police officers who believed he was urinating in public, though there was no evidence of this. The officers chased Chasse, slamming him to the pavement and struggled to cuff him. The medical examiner said he died of broad-based blunt-force trauma to the chest. An autopsy revealed that he had 26 breaks to 16 ribs, some of which punctured a lung. Medical experts said Chasse was "repeatedly and viciously punched, struck, kicked, kneed in the head, back, ribs and chest” as well as being shot numerous times by a stun gun. Medics did not take him to a hospital, saying Chasse's vital signs were normal. However, jail staff refused to book him because of his physical condition. Chasse died while being taken to the hospital in a police car.

The three officers not only inflicted this physical violence, but also tried to justify their actions once they realized that there were numerous witnesses. They announced that a bag a bread crumbs on Chasse was cocaine and that he was a transient with prior cocaine convictions and presently high. All of these pronouncements were lies.

The attorneys for the Chasse family were also able to reach a settlement with the county for $925,000 and the ambulance company for $600,000.

April 2010

$100,000 Settlement for Undocumented Construction Worker

Cincinnati attorney Alphonse Gerhardstein of Gerhardstein & Branch won a $100,000 settlement against Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones. Mr. Gerhardstein was representing Louis Rodriguez, an undocumented construction worker.

Mr. Rodriguez was working at a construction site when Sheriff Office members arrived and questioned twenty workers. Twelve were fired after questioning, and Mr. Rodriguez was arrested. Though George Fee successfully represented Mr. Rodriguez in the criminal case and won an acquittal, Rodriguez was still deported and now lives in poverty in Mexico with his wife and two children. Before this, he had been living, working, raising his family and paying taxes in Ohio for eleven years.

His attorney claimed that Mr. Rodriguez was “seized” when he was taken to the construction trailer at the worksite for interrogation in violation of the Fourth Amendment. He also alleged a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. In addition, Gerhardstein argued that the Sheriff did not have power to enforce the federal civil immigration law.

March 2010

$33 Million Settlement over Illegal Strip-Searches in New York

Leading a team of several attorneys, Richard D. Emery has won a class action suit against New York City on behalf of thousands of New Yorkers who were arrested and illegally strip-searched. Between July 1999 and October 2007, it is estimated that about 100,000 pretrial detainees were illegally searched when they first arrived and/or when they were coming back from court appearances. Some detainees were strip-searched multiple times. Two female plaintiffs were also forced to undergo gynecological exams. The victims faced misdemeanor charges, many no more serious thanjumping turnstiles, failing to pay child support, shoplifting and trespassing.

Mariann Meier Wang, another attorney for the plaintiffs, called the settlement historic and the illegal strip searches a "form of mass humiliation." She said they were designed to let inmates know who was in charge. Most of the illegal searches took place at Riker’s Island and the Manhattan Detention Complex.

The two aforementioned women who had been subjected to examinations were awarded $20,000 each for injury and suffering, and the awards for the other plaintiffs will range between $1,800 and $2,900, depending on how many come forward.

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