Confidential
Settlement – $69,000Judge
Court
USDC Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
On July 31, 1995, defendant police department officers arrested the plaintiff, an 84-year-old woman, at the house she had lived at for approximately 50 years. The plaintiff had called the police earlier in the day to complain that her neighbors were playing music too loudly. Apparently one of the plaintiff's neighbors had also called the police to complain about noise that the plaintiff was allegedly making. After the defendant officers arrived and spoke to the neighbor, they approached the plaintiff who was standing inside her front yard. The plaintiff's house and yard are surrounded by a four-foot chain link fence with a locked entrance gate. The plaintiff was standing near the gate on the inside of her yard and the defendant officers were on the sidewalk outside. One of the officers told the plaintiff to unlock the gate or come outside the gate, but the plaintiff refused. She said that she could talk to the officers just as easily through the fence. The officers jumped over the gate, grabbed the plaintiff as she started towards her house, and hancuffed her. After entering her house, the defendant officers eventually took the plaintiff to jail. According to the officers, they made a "citizen's arrest" of disturbing the peace. In addition to the "disturbing the peace" charge, the plaintiff (who is under five feet tall and weighs approximately 100 pounds) was charged with two counts of battery on a peace officer. In responses to requests for admissions, the defendant city admitted that the arrest was made in accordance with its own practices. The plaintiff was held in a jail cell for two days. Before being released, a deputy sheriff for the defendant county caused the plaintiff to be palm printed. For a few months after her arrest, the plaintiff was prosecuted on charges that she was disturbing the peace and had battered two police officers. In the course of that prosecution, the court determined that the defendant officers' arrest of the plaintiff had been unlawful and in violation of her rights under the Fourth Admendment. Later, the city attorney dismissed all charges against the plaintiff. The plaintiff brought this action against the defendants based on violation of civil rights and malicious procesution theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff settled with the defendant city for $60,000 and the county defendants for $9,000
Damages
The plaintiff claimed $ _________ in damages.
Injuries
The plaintiff alleged she suffered emotional distress and injuries to her right hand and wrist.
Other Information
The plaintiff moved for summary adjudication on the grounds that the city police officers had arrested her unlawfully based on the fact that she was in the locked yard of her house, the officers failed to obtain a warrant and had no exigent circumstances, and that her arrest by the defendant officers was consistent with city policy and practice. The defendants contended that they did not arrest, but only "received" the plaintiff into custody; that they were immune under both state and federal law, and that there were exigent circumstances that permitted their entry. On Sept. 19, 1996, by way of a 10-page order, Untied States District Court Judge Stephen V. Wilson granted the plaintiff's motion. Thereafter, the reported settlement was reached.
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