News
Update:
New Development in long-standing Handschu case
The New York City Police Department has quietly dropped the 2004 policy that allowed officers to engage in political surveillance by routinely videotaping and photographing New Yorkers engaged in lawful protest. Interim Order 47 was replaced by Interim Order 22 which restores police Patrol Guide procedures to the framework which existed pre-2004 and limits police videotaping to actual or imminent occurrence of illegal activity.
The attorneys in the Handschu case learned of these changes in the course of discovery in a November 2005 motion that challenged Interim Order 47 because it conflicted with the Handschu Guidelines. Upon inquiry, the city’s attorney revealed that Interim Order 47 was withdrawn more than a year ago and replaced by Interim Order 22.
Attorneys Paul Chevigny, Jed Eisenstein, Marty Stolar, Franklin Siegel and Art Eisenstein are filing papers with Judge Charles Haight of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York asking the court to conclude pending proceedings and order the police to notify the Handschu class, and the court, of future changes to Interim Order 22 so that compliance with the Handschu Guidelines can be monitored and assured.
To read the entire attorney statement click here
New Developments in the Chicago Torture Cases
On October 29, in the wake of the arrest and indictment of Chicago police torturer Jon Burge, a group of 250 local and national organizations and individuals, including attorneys, torture victims and their families, academics, advocates, civic leaders and community activists, released their report “Torture in Chicago: A Supplementary Report on the On-going Failure of Government Officials to Adequately Deal With the Scandal.”
The Supplementary Report documents that more than $52 million in taxpayer’s money has already been spent by the City of Chicago and the County of Cook to pay for legal fees and costs to defend Burge and other Area 2 and 3 police detectives in civil rights cases accusing them of torture: to pay for Burge’s and other officers’ pensions and medical benefits; and for Special Prosecutor’s thoroughly inadequate investigation. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the 110 torture victims either remain in prison due to wrongful convictions based in whole or in part on their tortured confessions or are on the streets without compensation or treatment for their grievous injuries. The report demands that the City of Chicago, Cook County, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, the United State’s Attorney and the Fraternal Order of Police finally take action.
To read the Supplementary Report click here
To read the initial Report click here
Judge in DC refuses to end controversial checkpoints
On October 30, a federal judge in Washington DA refused to issue an injunction to stop DC police from putting up checkpoints to screen motorists going into neighborhoods plagued by drive-by shootings.
For two weeks in June and July of 2008 police set up checkpoints in the Trinidad area, controlling vehicles trying to enter the neighborhood near Gallaudet University. According to the Washington Post, police stopped 951 vehicles and refused entry to 48 either because the motorist could or would not provide a ‘valid reason’ to be there. Valid reasons include living in the neighborhood, visiting relatives, picking up a child or seeing a doctor; motorists refusing to provide the necessary information could walk but not drive into Trinidad.
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney for the Partnership for Civil Justice and NPAP member, sued on behalf of four residents and demanded an injunction until constitutional issues could be decided. Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that the public’s interest in deterring violent crime was overwhelming and the checkpoint effort “carefully crafted.” He further argued that the residents did not meet the burden necessary for a preliminary injunction.
The Judge endorsed the arguments advanced by the Police Chief and the Mayor and distinguished the program from other programs held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. As opposed to checkpoints in the general interest of crime control, Leon argued, the roadblocks in DC were “materially different” as they had the specific objective of stopping gunmen using cars.
Verheyden-Hilliard has appealed the ruling and the suit challenging the constitutionality of the Neighborhood Safety Zone effort will continue.
$16 million jury verdict for victim of wrongful conviction
On August 29, 2008, NPAP member and lead counsel Mike Kanovitz of the Chicago firm Loevy & Loevy, along with attorneys Brian McAlister, Cindy Short, and Chris Lawson of Kansas City won a $16 million jury verdict for their client Ted White in federal district court in Kansas City. The verdict included $14M in compensatory damages and $2M in punitives. Mr. White spent approximately 5 years in prison after his ex-wife accused him of molesting his step-daughter. After his conviction was reversed (it turned out that the lead detective was having a secret affair with Mr. White’s ex-wife), Mr. White brought a civil suit against his ex-wife and the detective from the Lee Summit, Mo. police department alleging violations of his constitutional rights. The Eighth Circuit previously rejected a qualified immunity appeal in a published opinion (see link to opinion below).
There was evidence that the prosecutors knew about the relationship between the mother and the detective but failed to disclose it, a move which arguably let the detective off the hook for the Brady violation. The judge gave an instruction which allowed the jury to hold the defendants liable if they caused the prosecutor not to disclose exculpatory information in the prosecutor’s possession. The lawyers argued to the jury that the defendants’ subsidiary lies, which were not independent Brady violations, either misled the prosecutors into concluding that the relationship was not exculpatory or gave the prosecutor the cover she needed not to disclose the relationship. This was one of several theories submitted to the jury, along with other, independent, Brady violations. Also, the attorneys were able to obtain a pretrial settlement against one of the two defendants for policy limits of $600k that she had under a homeowner’s policy. Kanovitz and his co-counsel were able to keep her as defendant on the conspiracy claim by taking an assignment of a bad faith failure to settle claim against a second insurer that took the position there was no coverage. The bad faith claim now may allow Mr. White to collect the one million in punitive damages from her insurer, which would otherwise not be collectable.
To read the jury verdicts click here
To read the opinion rejecting the qualified immunity appeal click here
Jury awards $2.5 Mio. to man brutalized by police as a boy
A New York State court jury in Bronx County awarded a verdict of $2.5 Million in a police brutality (§1983) case against the City of New York and two New York City Police Department officers. The award was made to Luis Figueroa, 27, a 13-year-old boy at the time of the incident. The case was pending for 12 years.
The defendant officer hit, stomped, pistol-whipped (Fx right 5th metacarpal with mild deformity; "hole" in head; split lip), arrested, and prosecuted Luis, who was represented at trial by Michael R. Scolnick, an NPAP member from Rockland County, New York. Scolnick retained a forensic psychiatrist who testified that the boy's PTSD was a substantial causing factor of Luis’s later assaultive criminal behavior, counted as an additional item of damages. The evidence at trial included photos of Luis at age 13.
The trial involved four days of evidence, eight witnesses (including an orthopedic surgeon and the forensic psychiatrist), as well as a hospital’s orthopedic and psychiatric records. The jury awarded $2,500,000. His lawyer asked for $2,000,000 in summation. The defendants final settlement offer was $500,000, which was rejected.
Settlement Reached in Foley Case
Beginning of July, former Chargers linebacker Steve Foley settled his case against the city of Coronado and Coronado police officer Aaron Mansker for $5.5 million dollars. Steve Foley was forced to end his football career with the San Diego team after Mansker shoot him in the knee and hip during a traffic stop. Mansker, off duty and in his private car, stopped Foley for suspected drunk driving and shot him when Foley allegedly reach to his waistband. Foley, who will be physically impaired for the rest of his life, was unarmed.
Foley was represented by NPAP member Jordan Cohen and co-counsel Harvey Levine. The attorneys argued that Mansker had violated training and department policies when he decided to stop Foley instead of just following him.
To read the settlement agreement click here
Settlement in Failure to Train Case
Fred Gittes, attorney and NPAP member in Columbus Ohio reached a settlement with the Franklin County Sheriffs Department regarding the 2005 shooting death of Nasir Abdi, a young Ohio resident from Somalia.
Nasir Abdi was shot when four Sheriff’s deputies went to pick him up on a probate court detention order to take him to a hospital after the family had called for help because he had stopped taking his medication for paranoid schizophrenia. The deputies reported Nasir was shot when he attempted to stab one of the deputies. They admitted, however, that until one of them ran toward Nasir, maced him and tried to grab him, Nasir did not strike at them or move toward them. All four deputies were at a safe distance behind protective cover with guns drawn screaming at him until the deputy ran toward Nasir. No one else was anywhere in the vicinity except Nasir and the deputies. The plaintiff’s expert testified that this was a case study in how NOT to approach someone suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and that the deputies should have been trained not to rush and to call for special assistance if the deputies were not trained themselves.
Settlement includes continuing jurisdiction of the court to enforce new initial training requirements, continuing training requirements, implementation of a Crisis Intervention Team, creation of a data base recording all background and interactions related to detentions/arrests of mentally ill individuals involving the warrant squad or CIT, and payment of $500,000 to the family.
To read the settlement agreement click here
City of Oakland Settles with Victims of Police Shooting
On June 18, 2008, Bay Area civil rights attorney and NPAP member John Burris reached a $975,000 settlement with the city of Oakland in the case of two residents who were shot by police officers.
William Caldwell and Leona Savoy were both injured in March 2006 when officers involved in an undercover drug operation fired 26 rounds at a suspect. Both Caldwell and Savoy were hit by bullets while cleaning their cars at a carwash that was full of customers at the time of the shooting.
The lawsuit argued that the officers did not give “adequate consideration to the obvious danger their rash decision to fire such an amount of bullets in such a short span of time and in the direction of the car wash posed to the numerous bystanders …” City officials argued that the officer “reacted reasonably” to the deadly threat the suspect presented to the officers and the public but decided to settle the case to avoid an adverse jury verdict.
Taser International Held Responsible in Landmark Decision
On Friday June 6, 2008, NPAP member John Burton and co-counsel Peter Williamson obtained a landmark victory against Taser International, an Arizona based stun-gun manufacturer. A federal jury held Taser responsible for the death of Robert Heston who died in 2005 from a combination of methamphetamine intoxication, health issues related to drug abuse, and multiple Taser shocks. The six jurors awarded the parents and sister of Heston more than $6 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
The suit alleged that the company failed to properly warn consumers that Taser shocks can be dangerous or even lethal when used repeatedly and in combination with chest compression on individuals under the influence of drugs. The jury exonerated the other defendants in the suit, the Salinas police department as well as the four officers involved in the lethal altercation.
The verdict is especially remarkable as it is the first time that the stun-gun manufacturer has been held responsible for a death or injury linked to its product. Following the verdict Taser stock fell 10% to its lowest level since December 2005. It is expected that Taser will appeal the verdict.
To read the verdict click here
$1.25 Million Settlement Reached in Michigan Wrongful Death Case
On May 21, 2008, Southfield attorney and NPAP board member David Robinson achieved an important victory when he settled the wrongful death case of Tim Curry v. Clinton Township for $1.25 Mio.
The case began in February 2001, when Tim Curry was shot and killed by officers of the Clinton Township Police Department (CTPD). Curry was shot 14 times, and all the shots, except for a contact shot to the side, were into Curry’s back as he lay on the floor. The defendant police officers claimed that the shooting was justified because they feared for their life after Tim Curry allegedly shot and killed police officer Richard Vauris. However, Robinson and his team uncovered facts that strongly suggested that the officer’s death was the result of a fellow officer’s accidental discharge of his service weapon. The evidence at the scene, the ballistics /forensics and eyewitness testimony contradicted the defendant’s version that Tim Curry ever had a weapon or shot the officer. According to Robinson, the use of a ballistics/firearms expert was critical in determining causation to defeat the police version of events.
Beside the claims against the officers for excessive force, wrongful death and gross negligence the cause of action furthermore contained claims against Chief of Police Alexander Ernst for failure to investigate the death and circumstances surrounding the death of Tim Curry and failure to supervise.
Bush Administration Violated Protestor’s Rights, Judge Rules
On March 20th, 2008, NPAP members Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Carl Messineo and Carol Sobel received a very important ruling in a First Amendment case they litigated on behalf of the antiwar ANSWER Coalition. The case goes back to the 2005 Bush/Cheney Inaugural parade where protesters were limited to specific, small areas mostly off of Pennsylvania Avenue. The lawyers won an injunction in US. District Court (DDC) against the federal government forcing it to stop its repeated practice of essentially privatizing the Inaugural parade route for the near exclusive use of the supporters and wealthy donors of the incoming administration. The Court declared that practice unconstitutional.
The lawyers established that the National Park Service (NPS) violated its own regulations in order to give preferential treatment to a favored group, the private Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), and that it engaged in illegal content-based viewpoint discrimination by excluding those whose views do not conform to the administration. The NPS takes most of the land abutting Pennsylvania Avenue during the parade and provides it to the PIC, a private entity created every four years to serve as the receptacle for wealthy and corporate donors to pour in tens of millions of unregulated dollars as the administration starts its term.
To read the verdict click here.
To read the order click here.
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