Hope Drums
03-08-2008, 11:58 AM
Well, guys I thought I'd share my recent legal woes....
Some of you know that I am a former police officer. I started working in public safety at 16 years of age, volunteering as a firefighter, that lead to getting a Paramedic certification, APCO Emergency Dispatcher certification, then eventually a Peace Officer (police officer) certification. I have worked for a police department, constable's office, and finally the sheriff's department, all of which I worked patrol.
Back in 2004, I had an unfortunate encounter with a fired up 60 year old female, during which incident she had to be handcuffed and placed in a patrol vehicle...
Three months to that, she filed a civil rights violation lawsuit against myself and 2 other officers. To avoid being named in the suit, the agency terminated the lead officer on the call.....The first Fed Judge made us go to mediation, at which time the lady acted a fool in Fed Court and had to be asked to leave the courtroom.
We filed an appeal with the Fed Appeals Court in New Orleans, just before Katrina hit, then the case was lost.....
Four weeks ago, I received a call that the case had resurfaced and had been assigned to a new judge. He reviewed the case and filed a cause of Excessive Use of Force on her behalf. (she was originally claiming false arrest) We appealed again and the Excessive Use of Force was thrown out, because it was VERY obvious that it was bogus. The new judge was demanding another attempt at mediation. Again, no resolution, because we believed we did nothing wrong and we weren't paying this womany a dime.
So....I have spend this last week in trial in Fed Court defending my good name. I know Ron knows that I have been pretty stressed, but now I can share why.....
The trial went very well, we were all found not liable. The lady's witnesses ended up working so well in our behalf that we only called 1 of our witnesses (who happened to be the Commander of DPS, TX Rangers).
This lady's own doctor testified that what she was claiming was not possible. Originally (and even at the start of trial) they were claiming that we caused over $50K in medical expenses/bills and even submitted them into evidence, but after her own doctor testified that we were in no way responsible for her medical problems, they decided to drop them. He further testified that this woman had been referred to mental healthcare, but she had refused. It was funny, at closing her attorney said "you have heard her doctor say these officers didn't cause her medical problems, we are not asking for medical expenses", but when my attorney got up he was able to tell them that before her doctor's testimony they were asking for $50K in medical bills and even pointed out to them that they had submitted all of those bills into evidence, but after her doctor's testimony, they decided not to show or talk about them.
The DPS commander was the only witness we called...he said after reviewing the depositions and sitting through courtroom testimony he believed that we were not guilty of falsely arresting the woman. He pointed out 2 different criminal charges that we should have charged her with and said we should be commended for letting this lady go and not taking her to jail. When her attorney asked on what he based his opinion, he said that during the testimony, our statements/testimony was the only thing that was consistent. He said that the testimony of his client, her daughter and husband (who was not even there during the incident) was very inconsistent with anything that they had said before...you know you are looking good, when several jury members are shaking their head in agreement!
Funny part of the trial...we started Tues. That evening one of the other guys named in the suit saw this woman shopping at Wal-Mart by herself walking around. She testified Wed that her medical problems left her unstable on her feet, trying to paint a picture to the jury that she was this little helpless old woman that we were picking on...when my
attorney asked her if she was so unstable, how was she unstable, how she was able to walk around Wal-Mart it pissed her off and she yelled "I'm not an invilant." I guess that's a new medical term "invilant"
I don't normally write such long posts, but guys I can't tell you how good it feels to have this burdon lifted and how good it feels that a jury of 8 of my peers was able to clearly see the truth!!
Brian
Some of you know that I am a former police officer. I started working in public safety at 16 years of age, volunteering as a firefighter, that lead to getting a Paramedic certification, APCO Emergency Dispatcher certification, then eventually a Peace Officer (police officer) certification. I have worked for a police department, constable's office, and finally the sheriff's department, all of which I worked patrol.
Back in 2004, I had an unfortunate encounter with a fired up 60 year old female, during which incident she had to be handcuffed and placed in a patrol vehicle...
Three months to that, she filed a civil rights violation lawsuit against myself and 2 other officers. To avoid being named in the suit, the agency terminated the lead officer on the call.....The first Fed Judge made us go to mediation, at which time the lady acted a fool in Fed Court and had to be asked to leave the courtroom.
We filed an appeal with the Fed Appeals Court in New Orleans, just before Katrina hit, then the case was lost.....
Four weeks ago, I received a call that the case had resurfaced and had been assigned to a new judge. He reviewed the case and filed a cause of Excessive Use of Force on her behalf. (she was originally claiming false arrest) We appealed again and the Excessive Use of Force was thrown out, because it was VERY obvious that it was bogus. The new judge was demanding another attempt at mediation. Again, no resolution, because we believed we did nothing wrong and we weren't paying this womany a dime.
So....I have spend this last week in trial in Fed Court defending my good name. I know Ron knows that I have been pretty stressed, but now I can share why.....
The trial went very well, we were all found not liable. The lady's witnesses ended up working so well in our behalf that we only called 1 of our witnesses (who happened to be the Commander of DPS, TX Rangers).
This lady's own doctor testified that what she was claiming was not possible. Originally (and even at the start of trial) they were claiming that we caused over $50K in medical expenses/bills and even submitted them into evidence, but after her own doctor testified that we were in no way responsible for her medical problems, they decided to drop them. He further testified that this woman had been referred to mental healthcare, but she had refused. It was funny, at closing her attorney said "you have heard her doctor say these officers didn't cause her medical problems, we are not asking for medical expenses", but when my attorney got up he was able to tell them that before her doctor's testimony they were asking for $50K in medical bills and even pointed out to them that they had submitted all of those bills into evidence, but after her doctor's testimony, they decided not to show or talk about them.
The DPS commander was the only witness we called...he said after reviewing the depositions and sitting through courtroom testimony he believed that we were not guilty of falsely arresting the woman. He pointed out 2 different criminal charges that we should have charged her with and said we should be commended for letting this lady go and not taking her to jail. When her attorney asked on what he based his opinion, he said that during the testimony, our statements/testimony was the only thing that was consistent. He said that the testimony of his client, her daughter and husband (who was not even there during the incident) was very inconsistent with anything that they had said before...you know you are looking good, when several jury members are shaking their head in agreement!
Funny part of the trial...we started Tues. That evening one of the other guys named in the suit saw this woman shopping at Wal-Mart by herself walking around. She testified Wed that her medical problems left her unstable on her feet, trying to paint a picture to the jury that she was this little helpless old woman that we were picking on...when my
attorney asked her if she was so unstable, how was she unstable, how she was able to walk around Wal-Mart it pissed her off and she yelled "I'm not an invilant." I guess that's a new medical term "invilant"
I don't normally write such long posts, but guys I can't tell you how good it feels to have this burdon lifted and how good it feels that a jury of 8 of my peers was able to clearly see the truth!!
Brian