The Tarnished Badge

Sturgis, Mich. — The case seemed simple: Solve the misdemeanor theft of a $14.99 phone charger. Three years later, it could be costly to the city of Sturgis.

A federal appeals court said Friday that a jury should decide if officers used excessive force against a young man suspected of shoplifting and his mother when they entered a home without a warrant.

“Shoplifting of this sort offers no reason by itself for banging a suspect’s head against a wall,” said a three-judge panel at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court said the officers aren’t immune to a lawsuit, affirming a decision by U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist in Grand Rapids. The ruling means the case likely will go to trial or be settled.

Source/story continuation: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130510/METRO/305100450/1409/rss36

A jury Wednesday awarded $8.8 million to the family of a man fatally shot by a Culver City police officer, attorneys for the family said.

The unanimous verdict was handed down in U.S. District Court after jurors deliberated for only a few hours over the death of Lejoy Grissom.

Grissom, 27, was shot around midday on April 25, 2010, after he was pulled over in a parking lot on suspicion he had robbed a nearby electronics store shortly before, said Matthew McNicholas, an attorney for one of Grissom’s four children, all of whom are under the age of 8.

Four other officers and a supervisor responded to the parking lot to assist. With guns drawn, the officers ordered Grissom out of his car, said Dale Galipo, the attorney for the other children. Moments after Grissom exited the vehicle, Officer Luis Martinez fired three rounds, all of which struck Grissom, Galipo said.

The other officers who were at the scene all testified that Grissom was facing them and had nothing in his hands when he was shot, the attorneys said.

Source/story continuation: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-police-shooting-verdict-20130509,0,4541639.story

ST. PAUL, Minn., May 7 (UPI) — Minnesota officials say they have reached a settlement in a lawsuit that charged police beat a deaf man who asked an officer to communicate with him in writing.

The settlement between the city of St. Paul and Doug Bahl also requires police to develop policies and training to deal with deaf people, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Monday.

The suit stemmed from police stopping Bahl in 2006 for running a red light. Bahl charged in the suit he informed the officer he was deaf and wanted to communicate in writing. Instead, the officer sprayed him with a chemical irritant, struck him and pulled him from the car, where he was beaten and kicked by other officers.

Source/story continuation: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/05/07/St-Paul-to-settle-lawsuit-charging-police-abuse-against-deaf-man/UPI-10001367937655/

A Dolton police officer who hit two men outside a village nightclub with his steel baton and left without calling for an ambulance is on trial on federal excessive-force charges.

A security camera captured Officer Kevin Fletcher striking one man on the head and then walking away before turning back and hitting the man’s friend too. The judge hearing the case in Chicago declined Tuesday to address a Tribune request to release the video, which has been shown repeatedly to jurors.

Prosecutors said the May 16, 2009, incident outside Mr. Ricky’s nightclub in Dolton was a clear case of excessive force.

Source/story continuation: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-dolton-cop-beating-20130508,0,7507939.story

UPDATE: Convicted

May 10, 2013

A Dolton police officer who hit two men on the head outside a village nightclub with his steel baton faces up to 10 years in prison after being convicted Thursday of using excessive force.

Jurors took less than an hour to find Officer Kevin Fletcher, 35, guilty of two counts of violating the men’s civil rights.

Source/story continuation: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-dolton-police-brutality-20130510,0,7672457.story