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Friday Harbor woman sues San Juan County; alleges police brutality, unlawful search and seizure

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MrScorpio

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Fri Jul-23-10 12:30 PM
Original message

Friday Harbor woman sues San Juan County; alleges police brutality, unlawful search and seizure

By RICHARD WALKER
Journal of the San Juans Editor
Jul 21 2010, 5:07 PM
A Friday Harbor woman is suing San Juan County in federal court, alleging two sheriff's deputies illegally searched her home, used excessive force and falsely arrested her on March 21.

Specifically, Toni Michele's civil suit � filed July 20 in U.S. District Court in Seattle � alleges unlawful search and seizure, unlawful imprisonment, negligence, and assault.

Sheriff Bill Cumming declined to comment Wednesday. "We reviewed the incident and passed it on to the prosecutor. They reviewed it, it went to risk management, and the status of the case precludes any other comment."

Michele, 45, alleges that on the night of March 21, Sheriff's deputies Nikki Rogers and Brad Korth went to her home after a neighbor called 9-1-1 and reported a domestic disturbance.

Michele and her boyfriend had had a verbal argument and the boyfriend left 15 minutes before deputies arrived, according to the lawsuit. Michele's attorney, Mark Kaiman of the Lustick Law Firm in Bellingham, said Michele was alone in her home when deputies arrived.

According to the lawsuit, Michele told Rogers that the domestic disturbance report was made in error, that there had been a verbal argument but there were no injuries and no property damage. Rogers questioned Michele about her alcohol use and asked to search the home, saying she was required by law to make sure no children were present and that there were no injuries or property damage. Michele declined to grant consent for the search and "demanded" the officers leave.

"Deputy Rogers forced her way into Ms. Michele's home without a warrant," Kaiman said. "Deputy Rogers then used her electric Taser gun on Ms. Michele, after the homeowner was tackled to the ground by Deputy Korth and handcuffed. Deputy Rogers then conducted an illegal search of Ms. Michele�s residence, which yielded nothing of evidentiary value."

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/sanjuans/jsj/news/98975449.html

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HiFructosePronSyrup

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Fri Jul-23-10 12:32 PM
Response to Original message

1. Um, a 9-1-1 domestic disturbance call would be probable cause, would it not?

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Lance_Boyle

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Fri Jul-23-10 12:43 PM
Response to Reply #1

3. Probably.

How were the responding officers supposed to know that the other party to the argument had left? Should they just take the first party's word for it? What if they did, he hadn't, they left, and a domestic homicide ensued?

Once PC was established, the homeowner was wrong to try to stop the search. You don't get in the way of a cop performing her duties, even if you're reasonably certain the cop is wrong. 'Cuz they are seldom "wrong" in court.

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ProgressiveProfessor

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Fri Jul-23-10 04:20 PM
Response to Reply #1

6. Iffy at best without additional evidence beyond a phone complaint

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TexasObserver

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Fri Jul-23-10 12:37 PM
Response to Original message

2. Cops now believe "probable cause" is something they make up, later.

The average cop today believes he has the right to push his way into any home to check out anything he wants to check out. They don't answer to law. They make it up.

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HiFructosePronSyrup

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Fri Jul-23-10 12:52 PM
Response to Reply #2

4. Did they use Michio Kaku's time machine to go back and place that 911 call?

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Warpy

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Fri Jul-23-10 12:52 PM
Response to Reply #2

5. In this case, they did have probable cause

because the altercation was loud enough to alarm a neighbor sufficiently to have the police called in.

No, they can't take your word for it. The consequences can be terrible if they do and they're wrong.

Think about all the murder/suicides we're reading about lately in which a parent kills not only the spouse, but the children as well.

That's why the cops shoved their way into the residence.

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bahrbearian

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Fri Jul-23-10 04:41 PM
Response to Reply #5

7. You have to ask did they interview the Neighbor making the call

Edited on Fri Jul-23-10 04:44 PM by bahrbearian

or did they just assume that there was a domestic dispute, they could have called in for a warrant. Was the call made by a neighbor with a grudge? Was it anonymous? Do we shoot first ask questions latter.

From the article
Kaiman, a former Bellingham city prosecutor and former San Juan County deputy prosecutor, said officers could only search the home without consent if they had an "exigent" circumstance � "I can hear someone screaming, I see broken furniture, I see blood on the walls," he said.

Kaiman said that Rogers and Korth falsely arrested Michele and shoved her into a parked car and forced her face down into a gravel driveway.

Michele was charged with obstructing a police officer and assault in the fourth degree, but the prosecuting attorney's office dropped the charges on July 7, Kaiman said.

Michele filed a damage claim against San Juan County for $250,000, but that claim was rejected by county officials. Her lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, attorney fees and litigation costs, and may also include punitive damages against the county.

Kaiman called the deputies' behavior "appalling ... a direct result of poor training and an ongoing lack of supervision by Sheriff Cumming and San Juan County."

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Warpy

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Fri Jul-23-10 05:52 PM
Response to Reply #7

9. If there's a violent situation going on

stopping to interview people on the way is a bad idea.

They might find a corpse or two or three or more when they finally getting around to doing the call.

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bahrbearian

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Fri Jul-23-10 10:51 PM
Response to Reply #9

10. After their arrival they could have ascertained there was violent situation

Edited on Fri Jul-23-10 10:52 PM by bahrbearian

if so ,then they could have invaded her amendment rights, after they obtained a warrant or interviewed the neighbors. Rule of law.

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Warpy

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Fri Jul-23-10 10:59 PM
Response to Reply #10

11. Nice way to get people killed

Battered women often lie to protect their abusers and in an attempt to avoid more battery. That doesn't always work.

I'd rather have a cop see this rubbish tip of a house than risk getting beaten by a thug hiding in the back room, waiting for him to go away.

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bahrbearian

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Sat Jul-24-10 10:37 AM
Response to Reply #11

12. so then the cops beat the woman and detained her and that works for you.

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Warpy

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Sat Jul-24-10 10:39 AM
Response to Reply #12

13. Sentences that begin with "so" are generally strawmen

and that sentence is no exception. You built him, now take him out and play with him all by yourself.

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bahrbearian

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Sat Jul-24-10 10:48 AM
Response to Reply #13

14. Then the cops beat the woman Illegally searched her house ,arrested her and

put her in jail, so they could protect her?

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TexasObserver

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Sat Jul-24-10 05:54 PM
Response to Reply #14

15. Those knowledgeable about law agree with you.

You'll find that most of the bad information about law here comes from people who don't know the first thing about it. They watch a little Law & Order and think they're experts on law.

There's a reason they don't get paid for their "legal" advice. They're not qualified.

Those who worship police see probable cause any time a cop says he or she has probable cause. As I said at the start of this subthread, cops do what they want, and make up their probable cause later. They do not respect the constitution, and they do not care if probable cause exists or not. Their attitude is they'll get into any home they want, and figure out later why it was legal and necessary.

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bahrbearian

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Sat Jul-24-10 10:46 PM
Response to Reply #15

16. I love the argument of allowing illlegal search and seizure as OK

because of this, that, and the other. Why not just have a Police Video camera in your house, you know just in case? but i should just go play with my straw man, right! Thanks, TexasObserver I was begining to think I was alone on this.

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ProgressiveProfessor

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Fri Jul-23-10 05:49 PM
Response to Reply #5

8. That is far from certain

An anonymous complaint or just a 911 hangup constitutes exigent circumstances, despite claims to the contrary by some LEOs. Others state that it is department policy and therefore occupants must comply, again not true. Here as in most cases of interaction with the police, video is your best friend.

A good friend went through this a while back. Domestic violence and child abuse complaints filed against a widower with grown/non-resident children. CPS and PD policy required a full search and attempted them without warrants and got most upset when entrance was refused. Even when it was demonstrated to everyone's satisfaction that the complaints were really harassment, the county refused to turn over caller ID or other tracking information. Eventually the county backed off after serious court action was initiated.

Turns out in many cases department policy oversteps actual legal authority but its ignored by the courts since it is considered in the best interests of children and battered women.

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