Scottsdale’s legal fees grow in 2 police shootings

Scottsdale has agreed to spend more money to defend against lawsuits brought by the families of two men shot by police in separate incidents in 2012 and 2008, bringing the total authorized to date to nearly $1.6 million.

This month, the City Council approved paying up to $75,000 in legal fees for an appeal in the 2008 case of David Hulstedt, 35, who became a paraplegic after two Scottsdale sergeants shot him in the back as he was walking toward his house carrying his 2-year-old daughter, according to court records.

The council also approved spending up to $350,000 in the Feb. 14, 2012, fatal shooting of John Loxas Jr., 50, who was holding his 7-month-old grandson when he was shot and killed by Officer James Peters.


The city has authorized more than $1 million total in legal fees for the Hulstedt case and up to $515,000 in the Loxas case, according to  Mike Phillips,  a Scottsdale spokesman.


Loxas was the seventh Scottsdale resident Peters had shot in the line of duty since 2002. Six of the suspects died. Peters was granted a disability retirement this year.

The families of Loxas and Hulstedt filed lawsuits seeking damages against Scottsdale officials. Loxas’ family seeks $7.5 million from Peters, the city, Police Chief Alan Rodbell and Detective Brian McWilliams, according to documents prepared for the City Council.

Hulstedt’s family seeks $40 million from the city and 19 police officers and former employees, the documents said.

Both shootings were deemed justified by the Police Department’s Deadly Force Review Board, according to records, as were Peters’ prior shootings while on duty.

A federal judge disagreed with the review board in Hulstedt’s case, finding that “reasonable” officers would not have fired at Hulstedt, who had psychological issues, was unarmed, made no sudden movements and held his daughter.

The judge further said the baby could have been hurt. In fact, the baby did fall 6 feet to the ground and suffered a minor facial injury, according to the ruling. The judge also noted that police did not warn Hulstedt before they fired.

After three of four police-fired bullets struck Hulstedt, police handcuffed and dragged him facedown 400 feet to paramedics, the judge found.

Hulstedt was suffering from anxiety and paranoia when he called Scottsdale police the day he was shot and demanded that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano come to his house, according to the ruling.

Police ascertained he was having psychological difficulties, but they were concerned about the safety of Hulstedt’s daughter because Hulstedt threatened to “pile-drive” her, according to court documents.
The judge ruled that the officers are not immune from damages stemming from the suit.

“Considering ‘the totality of the facts and circumstances’ in the particular case, no reasonable officer could have believed that shooting David without warning, while he calmly walked back towards his house with (his daughter) over his head, was a proper means of protecting (her) safety,” the judge said in his ruling.

“Neither Sgt. Richard Slavin nor Sgt. James Dorer warned (Hulstedt) that they would shoot him if he did not comply with their commands, and both of them shot him in the back as he was walking away from them and towards the house.”

The council Nov. 13 approved up to $75,000 with the law firm of Osborn Maledon to appeal the judge’s findings to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The partners of the firm, which has experience with appellate litigation in excessive-force cases, will make $370 an hour, according to City Council documents.

It is unclear how much money the city has spent on prior legal action in either the Hulstedt case or Loxas case or in other lawsuits against retired Officer Peters.

The council approved up to $250,000 in attorney’s fees and up to $100,000 in other litigation fees to the law firm of Struck, Wieneke & Love of Chandler to represent Peters in the Loxas shooting. Lead attorney Kathe Wieneke will make $195 an hour, according to City Council documents. Separate counsel was retained for the city and other defendants.

Loxas’ neighbors had called police to his house Feb. 14, 2012, after he waved a gun at them, according to police reports. He was walking back to his house holding his grandson when he was shot, according to court documents.

The lawsuit filed on his family’s behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union claims that Scottsdale police failed to adequately investigate Peters’ prior shootings and that he should not have been armed and on the force the day Loxas was killed.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/20121112scottsdale-legal-fees-grow-cases.html

MCSO, actor Steven Seagal sued over 2011 arrest

When a tank knocked down his block wall with a boom, waking him from a sound sleep, Jesus Llovera scrambled out of bed and grabbed his jeans and a phone to dial 911.

He made it to the hallway just as his bedroom windows shattered. At his door, members of a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office SWAT team in full riot gear told him to get on the floor.

He was handcuffed and taken outside, where action-movie actor Steven Seagal waited, clad in camouflage and sunglasses and hoisting a rifle.

"I looked up and saw his face," Llovera said. "It was very strange."

The SWAT team was at Llovera's Laveen home the morning of March 10, 2011, to search it.

Deputies suspected that Llovera, who had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation of being present at a cockfight, still had roosters and chickens on his property, a violation of his probation. They also suspected he was raising them to fight, a Class 5 felony.

But the Sheriff's Office was also participating in the creation of a reality show, "Steven Seagal: Lawman," a cable show that followed Seagal's exploits as a deputized officer. Four cameras from the production company filmed the warrant execution and arrest. Arpaio's office had alerted the media. Reporters and television cameras lined the southwest Phoenix neighborhood's street.

This week, Llovera struck back. Llovera, 43, filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday against the Sheriff's Office and Seagal, claiming his arrest was orchestrated to make for good television. He seeks unspecified monetary damages to be determined by a jury.

The suit, which also names the county Board of Supervisors, says it fit a pattern of Arpaio "arresting and prosecuting individuals without probable cause solely for the selfish and improper purposes of achieving personal and political gain through publicity."

The Sheriff's Office insists in court documents that the use of a tank, a bomb robot and 40 deputies was part of its normal course of duties.

"The search warrant was going to occur with or without Seagal," sheriff's Deputy Chief Dave Trombi said before the lawsuit was filed. "The search warrant was not based at all on the needs of the production company."

After the raid, Llovera was criminally charged with raising animals for cockfighting and possession of dangerous drugs used on the animals. At the time, he was not supposed to have the animals in his possession because he was on probation for a cockfighting-related offense.

Robert Campos, Llovera's attorney, has asked the court in the criminal case to throw out evidence discovered at Llovera's home, arguing that the warrant was not served property.

Campos said his client was not involved with cockfighting, as authorities suspect. But, even if he were, the raid "was still overkill, and that's the whole point."

The Arizona-filmed episode of "Steven Seagal: Lawman" was to premiere on the A&E Network on Jan. 4, but the season was pulled from the schedule and the channel's website.

At the time of his arrest, Llovera said, Seagal walked him off his property to a van but did not speak to him. Seagal went off to do media interviews. Show producers asked Llovera to sign a release allowing them to use footage of his arrest. Llovera said deputies removed his handcuffs twice as producers asked him to sign. He refused.

"They said, 'It will be good for you, so everyone can see your animals,' " Llovera said. "I said I didn't want to."

Deputies found more than 100 roosters on the property. Court records say some had been physically altered in ways suggesting the birds had been bred for cockfighting. Since such birds are too aggressive to be rehabilitated, deputies said, they were euthanized.

Deputies also found medicines, charging Llovera with possession of dangerous drugs, and accessories, like sparring balls.

Deputies interviewed Llovera for 90 minutes, according to a prosecution filing in court.

"During that time, defendant equivocated between saying that the roosters were being raised solely for show purposes and then stating that he was raising the roosters so that they could be sold to people who would use them for cockfighting," it said.

Llovera, during a recent tour of his home, told a reporter that he bred the birds to show their colorful plumage. But he did not know when the next rooster show was, or anything about competitions for rooster beauty or breeding.

He showed a copy of Gamecock magazine, saying he's just like dealers who sell in that publication. The Humane Society calls the magazine a thinly disguised journal for cockfighting fans.

Llovera walked with a reporter through three rows of cages in his backyard for the 40 birds he owns.

To show his birds weren't meant for fighting, Llovera put his hand into a cage. The rooster backed up. Had they been fighters, he said, they would be used to handling and could be easily approached.

He conceded he trimmed some birds' wattles and combs, but only so the birds could place their heads through the bars of their cages to eat. He said a room authorities thought was a training ring is where he practices Santeria, a religion that includes animal sacrifice.

Llovera said he grew up a fan of cockfighting, watching battles in his native Cuba. He attended cockfights in Arizona when they were legal. Voters banned the practice in 1998.

"Those are traditions that you bring with you," Llovera said, "and it was in Arizona. It was a tradition that was in Arizona."

Llovera was one of 69 people arrested at a cockfight in Tonopah in May 2010. He pleaded guilty to being present at a fight and was given probation.

Phoenix police went to Llovera's home in February 2011 to investigate a man's claim that Llovera had kidnapped him and held him hostage for four days. Llovera told his own story of being kidnapped and having his pinky chopped off in the desert.

Confronted with differing stories, police didn't pursue the kidnapping case. But they did send the information about the roosters on Llovera's property to the Sheriff's Office.

That resulted in the search warrant that led deputies, with Seagal in tow, to storm Llovera's home. Trombi said the allegations against Llovera justified the sheriff's use of force.

"When SWAT is requested, it's based on previous history surrounding that suspect and that residence. Phoenix police did it with just as many if not more SWAT personnel as we did," Trombi said. "We had a legitimate law-enforcement reason to be there, we had a legitimate document, a search warrant, signed by that judge to be at that property. And a year later, we're still in the litigation phase. We're not willing to back down from the charges the county attorney filed based on our investigation."

Llovera said he's frustrated thinking how much his life was upended by the bust. "At the end of it, I realized it was a show," Llovera said. "What they showed up for was to make a show, and they made one."

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2012/03/01/20120301mcso-seagal-sued-arrest.html

County to Shell Out $1 Million to Family of Man Who Died While in MCSO Custody

You can tack another $1 million on to the more than $50 million in legal settlements Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has cost county taxpayers -- the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a settlement in a lawsuit filed by a man who died while in the sheriff's custody.

The family of Juan Farias Mendoza initially sued the county for $6 million.

Mendoza found himself in the custody of the MCSO following a 2007 arrest for driving under the influence. While in custody, Mendoza had several altercations with Arpaio's detention officers, which the lawsuit claims led to his death.

According to the notice of claim, Detention officers used pepper spray, Tasers, physical force, and a spit mask on Mendoza while he was in custody. A county medical examiner later found that the bruises on Mendoza's body showed signs of trauma.

The sheriff's office didn't immediately respond to our request for comment, but Arpaio tells the Arizona Republic that he doesn't recall the details of Mendoza's death.

"It was settled due to the nature of doing business," Arpaio tells the paper. "That wasn't up to us, that was the county that decided to settle it. We have nothing to do with us. We never like to lose anybody in jail, but we have ... 300,000 (inmates) come through our jails since I've been sheriff. Sometimes you have people that pass away."

Luis Guerra, the attorney representing Mendoza's family didn't return New Times' multiple phone calls.

See Mendoza's family's notice of claim here.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/11/county_to_shell_out_1_million.php

Peoria man sues Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, cites abuse by deputies

A Peoria contractor claims in a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office that deputies beat and shot him with a stun gun for no reason as he stood outside a concession stand at Phoenix International Raceway last year.

Michael T. Wyman, 50, maintains in his lawsuit that he greeted an old friend with a bear hug near the track's Speed Cantina during a NASCAR race last November when, without warning, a deputy put him in a choke hold. The deputy threw him to the ground, Wyman alleges, and another deputy began shooting Wyman in the leg with a stun gun.

Wyman was charged with resisting arrest, aggravated assault and disorderly conduct for his role in the Nov. 13 incident, but a judge dismissed the charges in March at the request of prosecutors.

Wyman filed a notice of claim against the county in May, offering to settle the issue for $2 million. County officials did not respond, according to Wyman's attorney, so Wyman earlier this month filed a civil suit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the deputies involved in the incident.

"My deputies have a tough job," Arpaio said. "At this point, these are just allegations. I will await the true outcome of this lawsuit before I make any judgments."

Wyman says he made his claim in part because he suffered injuries that left him unable to do the work required for his company, Ricochet Excavating. The company survived the recent recession, but its future is threatened because of Wyman's run-in with deputies, said Daniel Treon, Wyman's attorney.

According to the lawsuit, Wyman saw his friend Ernie Griego near the Speed Cantina about 9 p.m. during a NASCAR Nationwide Series race, and the two greeted each other with "a high five and bear hugs."
Sheriff's deputies saw the exchange differently.

A police report on the incident indicates that a deputy was "alerted to a group of white males that appeared to be intoxicated and were grabbing and pushing one another. The subjects were pushing each other into people that were not part of their group," a deputy wrote.

Deputies were trying to get the group to move, according to the report, when Wyman turned to face Deputy Preston Boyer "and swung his arms at Deputy Boyer striking him on the right side of the face," according to a deputy's report.

When Boyer was struck, another deputy shot Wyman in the back with the stun gun, according to the police report.

Wyman's attorney said the sheriff's report offers only the deputies' perspective. He said the Sheriff's Office could not produce witnesses to verify the events laid out in the police report.

"We think that was an exaggerated statement full of unsubstantiated statements by law enforcement to justify what really, by all accounts, was a bizarre, uniformed attack on Mr. Wyman," Treon said. He said a handful of witnesses acquainted with Wyman, including a firefighter and a 911 operator, could verify Wyman's claims.

Wyman said his first encounter with a deputy came when Boyer came up from behind and began to choke him.

"Surprised, disoriented and unable to see his unidentified attacker, Michael grabbed onto his assailant's arm to try to loosen the choke hold so he could breathe," the lawsuit claims. "Another unknown MCSO deputy shoved Jan (Wyman's wife) aside and tasered Michael in the back."

Wyman's lawsuit and the sheriff's report both indicate that deputies shot Wyman twice with the stun gun, but Wyman's lawsuit claims the deputies went on to stomp on his arms and kick him before handcuffing him. The lawsuit also claims that sheriff's deputies continued to shock Wyman after he was handcuffed and that deputies threatened to stun-gun a Phoenix firefighter who was a friend of Wyman's when he tried to tell the deputies to stop.

Wyman's son, Wade, tried to talk to the deputies during the altercation but was shocked with a stun gun, kneed and kicked by deputies, the lawsuit alleges.

Michael and Wade Wyman both were taken into custody, but Wade was never cited, and a deputy did not write up a report on Wade's involvement, "a clear violation of policy," according to Treon.

Michael Wyman was taken to Fourth Avenue Jail, but officers told deputies to take Wyman to Maricopa Medical Center for treatment of his injuries, according to the complaint.

Wyman continues to experience nerve damage from the stun-gun shock and has undergone surgeries, including a skin graft, to repair damage from the weapon and broken bones from a deputy stomping on Wyman's foot, Treon said. Those injuries have made it difficult for the contractor to perform his work, he said.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/09/16/20110916peoria-man-sues-mcso-claims-abuse-deputies.html

Family sues Phoenix over unarmed man's killing by police

PHOENIX - The mother of a 29-year-old Phoenix man who was unarmed when he was fatally shot is suing the city and the police officer who killed him.

The lawsuit against the city of Phoenix and Officer Richard Chrisman was filed on Aug. 31 in Maricopa County Superior Court. It seeks unspecified damages but KNXV reported that Elvira Fernandez originally sought $29 million in a notice of claim.

Chrisman has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault and animal cruelty. His trial set to begin in November.

On Oct. 5 last year, court records say that Chrisman pulled his pistol, put it against 29-year-old Danny Frank Rodriguez's head and told him he didn't need a warrant when Rodriguez ordered him out of his house.

Chrisman then shocked Rodriguez with a stun gun, fatally shot his pit bull and then fatally shot Rodriguez.

http://ktar.com/category/local-news-articles/20110906/Family-sues-Phoenix-over-unarmed-man%27s-killing/

Joe Arpaio Loses Again: Maricopa County Settles for $200K in Mora Racial-Profiling Case

Julio and Julian Mora, who today won big against Sheriff Joe

As Sheriff Joe Arpaio plots to humiliate Arizona by deploying a chain gang of illegal immigrants to clean up around Chase Field, where the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is scheduled to take place July 12, there's ample evidence Arpaio should be in stripes right along with them, cleaning the sidewalks of cigarette butts and soda cans.

Not only is Arpaio the subject of a federal grand jury probe looking into abuse of power allegations against his office, he's also guilty of racial profiling by proxy. And for all of you nativists out there, racial profiling is illegal, no matter how much you may cotton to the idea.

See, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona has just announced that it's reached a settlement in the federal lawsuit Mora v. Arpaio, one of the most egregious cases of ethnic and racial profiling to come out of Arpaio's campaign of Hispanic-hunting sweeps and anti-immigrant raids on local businesses.

Arpaio's lawyer Tim Casey today threw in the towel, essentially agreeing to a $200,000 payout to Julian and Julio Mora, the father and son zip-tied and held for three hours during a 2009 MCSO raid of the Phoenix landscaping firm Handyman Maintenance Inc., where the elder Mora worked.

Joe's boys-in-beige were after illegal immigrants that day, but Julian Mora is a legal permanent resident. His son Julio is an American citizen.

But all that mattered to Arpaio's goons was the Moras' skin color. Because they were brown, sheriff's deputies pulled over their truck as the elder Mora drove to work. They were zip-tied and laughed at when they asked to use the facilities.

Mora senior, who suffers from diabetes, was finally allowed to make water behind a parked vehicle. The junior Mora was allowed to go to the bathroom, but deputies refused to remove his zip-tie, and mocked him as he struggled to relieve himself.

The Moras had done nothing wrong, yet they were treated like criminals.

So they sued Arpaio and the other idgits involved, like the bigoted Barney Fife, MCSO Lt. Joe Sousa, the brain surgeon in charge of the sheriff's human smuggling unit, best known for telling elected officials critical of his jefe to "shut up" at a deputies' press conference in 2009.

Oh, if only the $200K could come from the pocket of an aggro idiot like Sousa. But, alas, as with all of the settlements and judgments that result from the misdeeds of Arpaio and his dull-witted minions, it's the county that has to pick up the tab for this Keystone-Koppery.

Interestingly, one reason the defense in this suit flopped on its face is that the MCSO's moronic administrators could not determine which MCSO goons in particular pinched the Moras. Flip to the word "incompetence" in Webster's Dictionary, and I can almost guarantee there's an illo of an MCSO badge.

In April, District Court Judge David Campbell ruled that the Moras' Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure had been violated.

"Julian had committed no traffic violation, and neither plaintiff was ever charged with a crime," Campbell wrote at the time.

"In short," he added, "the undisputed evidence shows that when the John Doe Deputies stopped plaintiffs, they had no suspicion, reasonable or otherwise, that plaintiffs were in violation of the traffic laws or engaged in criminal activity."

Campbell's April ruling practically guaranteed Arpaio's capitulation. On the Fourth Amendment claim, the defendants already knew they were going to lose.

Annie Lai, the ACLU's lead attorney on the case, warned the county that it will be on the hook for Arpaio's continued unconstitutional shenanigans.

"Sheriff Arpaio's deputies are not free to ignore the Constitution when they are enforcing immigration laws," Lai said in a statement released by the ACLU. "County officials should take heed that the Moras and hundreds of other Latino residents who have been detained in the raids without any evidence of wrongdoing have recourse in the courts."

Lai just left the ACLU this week, on her way to a teaching gig at Yale University. I interviewed her before she left, and she will be the subject of a future blog post.

Congrats to her, the Moras and all the lawyers at the ACLU and elsewhere who helped win this one. Occasionally, there's a little justice here in Sand Land, though I won't be satisfied till I see Arpaio suited up in stripes, working the side of the road, hopefully with all of his henchmen right beside him.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2011/07/joe_arpaio_loses_again_maricop.php

Mistaken Identity Leads to Police Beat Down of Phoenix Man, Complaint Alleges

A Phoenix man is suing the City of Phoenix, former Phoenix police Chief Jack Harris, and several others over a beating he says he received from two Phoenix police officers who initially mistook him for a drug dealer they'd previously arrested.

According to the suit, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday, Phoenix resident Terry Daniels was riding his bike north on 11th Avenue approaching West Grand Street about 9:30 p.m. on July 1 of last year.

Two Phoenix police officers, Corey Shibata and Jason Hamernick, were driving down 11th Avenue when they noticed Daniels.

The two officers mistook Daniels for Todd Richardson Sr., a suspected drug dealer the two had arrested the previous year.

The officers stopped to talk with the man they thought was Richardson, realized it wasn't him, and that's where things get a little confusing.

In a police report the officers filed after arresting Daniels, they claim that when they confronted him, his arms were "shaking uncontrollably" and they suspected he was having a drug overdose.

When the officers exited their cruiser to talk with Daniels, they say he pulled a six-inch knife out of his pocket. The officers pulled their guns as the knife-wielding Daniels tried to hide a telephone pole, the officers wrote in their report.

After a brief standoff, the officers note that Daniels dropped the knife and went to his knees. When Hammernick kicked the knife away, the officers say Daniels got up and tried to run.

He was tackled by the cops and roughed up a little bit -- the officers note four to six "knee strikes" to Daniels's upper thigh by Hammernick, while Shibata delivered an additional six to eight "knee strikes."

However, a witness to the beating gives a much different account.

Richard Pinkney watched the beating as he was waiting for a bus at the corner of Grand Street and 11th Avenue. He signed a statement stating the following:

"The officers approached the black man [Daniels] from behind near the center of 11th Avenue, near the north curb line of Grant. The two officers began striking the black man while he was still standing. The black man went to the roadway and assumed a fetal position. The two officers continued striking him and kicking him. Though I could not see what, if anything, was in the hands of the officers, they appeared to be striking him with something other than their fists based on the movement of their arms.

In addition, they were striking him with their fists and kicking him. The officers then drug the black man to the northeast corner of l lth Avenue and Grant where they remained until emergency medical personnel arrived."

In his lawsuit, Daniels claims the officers covered up the details of the attack on Daniels and conspired to present a false description of events in order to evade responsibility for the attack.

Daniels' injuries don't exactly reflect a few "knee strikes" to the thigh, either.

Daniels was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage, a fracture to his left eye socket, six fractured ribs, fractures in his lower back, and bruises along his head, face, arrns, sides and stomach. His left eye was swollen shut.

Daniels is requesting a jury trial where he "respectfully prays" for general and specific damages in an amount to be proven at trial, punitive damages, and other relief the court deems appropriate.

See a copy of the complaint here.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/06/mistaken_identity_leads_to_pol.php

Maricopa County likely to pay $650,000 over deadly Phoenix pursuit

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday almost certainly will agree to pay $650,000 to the family of a 33-year-old man killed during a September 2007 pursuit in north Phoenix by sheriff's deputies.

The victim's family claimed sheriff's deputies acted negligently by pursuing a car that hit and killed Salvador Cereceres Herrera, during the pursuit.

A March 2008 notice of claim filed against Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Board of Supervisors and the county's Risk Management Department alleged deputies violated the sheriff's pursuit policy when they chased the car at high speeds in north Phoenix after its 15-year-old driver refused to stop. According to the claim, Cereceres Herrera was killed after the driver ran a red light while being "pursued recklessly and in violation of law at high speeds by" Deputy Ronald Frieberg. The claim asserts that Deputy Kelly Bocardo, who was in training at the time, was also negligent by failing to provide critical information to her supervisor so he or she could manage the pursuit.

Sheriff's Deputy Chief Jack MacIntyre acknowledged to The Arizona Republic that deputies violated the agency's pursuit policy but said, "The deviation was small - and that was in that brief few-minute pursuit, they did not fully inform the sergeant so the sergeant can call them off. But that's Monday morning quarterbacking - especially when they're pursuing someone at night who appears to be a threat to the community."

MacIntyre said the 15-year-old was on probation, was driving a stolen vehicle and had alcohol and drugs in his system. After the pursuit, he was convicted of second-degree murder, MacIntyre said. "He was in fact was driving recklessly and Mr. Cereceres left a mother and father and an 8-year-old daughter that he was very close to," he said.

Cereceres Hererra's daughter and parents initially asked for $2 million to settle the case.

The proposed settlement appears on the supervisors' formal agenda for Wednesday, and it would be rare for the board to reject such a payout.

The Risk Management Department did not respond to requests for comment.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/06/07/20110607sheriff-arpaio-deputies-deadly-phoenix-pursuit-payout.html

Paralyzed Man Beaten by Phoenix Cops After Officers Say He Ran From Police

A Phoenix man who claims Polio caused severe paralysis on one side of his body is suing the Phoenix Police Department because three officers severely beat him after they claimed he ran from authorities.

In a complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, Refugio Rodriquez says the officers' claim that he ran from police is impossible because of his paralysis.

"He walks with a cane," his attorney, Jimmy Borunda, tells New Times, "but they still beat him up pretty bad."

According to the complaint, Rodriquez was in a church parking lot when he was approached by the three officers.

"It was late at night, and they said they thought he was damaging the building," Borunda says.

When they approached him, Rodriguez claims the officers said "you better not run you fucking wetback." They then slammed him onto the concrete driveway "in a manner which obviously exceeded the minimal amount of force necessary to accomplish a lawful purpose and continued to brutally assault plaintiff Refugio in the driveway," the complaint states.

The officers then hit Rodriquez with a Taser and beat him "with their police-issued long flashlights."

Rodriquez was taken to the Maryvale Precinct, where he claims one of the officers asked him "what's the matter, you can't take an ass-whipping?"

Rodriguez was then taken to the Fourth Avenue Jail, where an intake nurse told him she was going to have him taken by ambulance to the hospital because of the severity of his injuries. However, Rodriquez claims, the nurse came back a few minutes later and told him "if she sent him to the hospital emergency, she was told she would lose her job."

After he was released on bail, Rodriquez was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where the emergency doctor told him "he could have died because a blood clot near his brain was beginning to develop,"

The problem with Rodriquez's lawsuit, his attorney points out, is that he already pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer, which will definitely be brought up should the case go to trial.

"He only pled to [assaulting an officer] so he could get out of jail," Borunda claims.

Rodriguez is seeking punitive damages and medical expenses for assault, battery, negligence, and civil rights violations. The city of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Maricopa County Correctional Health Services, and the three Phoenix police officers are all named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The Phoenix Police Department did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/05/complaint_paralyzed_man_beaten.php

Tempe Police "Party Patrol" Brutalize ASU Golfer, Harass His Friends on Facebook, According to Lawsuit

Next time you're partying at Arizona State University, consider Noah Frochtzwajg, ASU student and aspiring golfer.

He was enjoying the company of friends at 2 a.m. on Sunday August 29, 2010, when the Tempe Police came knocking at his apartment.

Frochtzwaig saw two officers and opened the door to let them in. Once he opened the door they stormed the room with three more officers and knocked him to the ground.

From there, they handcuffed him, forced his friends to leave "one by one," and laughed at him, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court against the Tempe Police Department yesterday.

After 30 minutes, the police officers uncuffed Frochtzwaig and released him without pressing charges. Frochtzwaig addressed a complaint to Tempe PD's Internal Affairs office -- but then the sergeant in charge of the investigation started harassing his friends on Facebook with "personal and embarrassing questions."

The complaint further alleges that Tempe Police employs a squad of police officers known as the "Party Patrol" whose job is to go around shutting down parties.

But, the complaint alleges, their job isn't "simply [to] disrupt parties whose noise, etc., exceeded legal boundaries, or where underaged drinking had been established."

It's to "raid any student social gathering."

The complaint calls the police's actions "heavy handed and needlessly forceful," claims numerous abrasions and injuries to Frochtzwajg's body, and damage to his golf career.

He was going to attend the PGA's qualifying school last year when this incident occurred, causing harm to his career, according to the complaint.

"Golf was Mr. Frochtzwajg's first love, and the injuries have caused significant loss of enjoyment of life," it reads.

The complaint alleges nine counts, including unlawful civil rights violations, assault, battery, and wrongful imprisonment. It seeks unspecified amounts in damages.

Tempe Police Department Sergeant Steve Carbajal declined to discuss the pending litigation, per department rules.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/05/tempe_police_party_patrol_brut.php

Maricopa County Sheriff deputies faulted in ID-theft case

Maricopa County sheriff's deputies violated the constitutional rights of two Hispanic men when they stopped and detained the men as part of a 2009 identity-theft investigation at a landscaping company, according to a federal judge's ruling Monday.

U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell ruled that Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies had no reason to stop Julian and Julio Mora before dawn on Feb. 11, 2009, nor any reason to make a warrantless arrest when deputies detained the Moras for nearly three hours.

The only reason the arresting deputies had to detain the men, according to Campbell's ruling, was because Julian Mora told deputies that he worked at Handyman Maintenance Inc., where sheriff's deputies were searching for suspected identity thieves.

Sheriff's deputies arrested 60 employees during the raid on the business, out of 109 employees at the site, on suspicion of a variety of crimes, ranging from fraud and identity theft to immigration violations.

Julian Mora's admission that he worked someplace where deputies suspected wrongdoing was not enough for the deputies to believe Julian Mora committed a crime, Campbell wrote.

"Any mistakes on the part of the John Doe deputies, even if made in good faith, were not 'those of reasonable men, acting on facts leading sensibly to their conclusions of probability,' " Campbell wrote.

Tim Casey, an attorney representing the Sheriffs Office, said the sheriff's defense was hampered because sheriff's officials were never able to identify the deputies who stopped the Moras.

More than 100 deputies were on scene that day, but without those who stopped the Moras, the judge was left to rule on the Moras version of events, Casey said.

"Without that, there was no testimony on why they were stopped," Casey said. "It was lack of evidence. They won because there's no evidence on that."

As important as Campbell's ruling is to the Moras, it bears more significance for the future of Arpaio's work-site enforcement operations, said Dan Pochoda, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in Arizona, which represented the Moras.

Campbell also ruled that the arrests were the result of Arpaio's enforcement policies and that Maricopa County is liable for how those policies are enforced.

"It's the first test of their workplace raid policy, a plan they repeated many times," said Pochoda, who added that the ruling could serve as a deterrent. "It's a very important win."

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/04/25/20110425arpaio-deputies-ruling-id-theft.html

Lawsuit alleges Mesa police beating

A Mesa man who claims he was beaten by several Mesa police officers while being arrested has filed a lawsuit against the department. Aaron Belander is serving a 30-month prison term for aggravated assault, but on Nov. 4 he filed a lawsuit in which he claims seven officers broke two of his ribs and nose during the Sept. 9, 2009, beating.

Caught on tape

The entire nighttime incident was captured on video, which was shot by a Mesa police helicopter hovering overhead. At the time, police learned Belander was free from jail while he awaited trial on a suspected home invasion in summer 2009. Police had been watching Belander's vehicle after they learned he may have a handgun, which is illegal for a convicted felon.

Traffic stop and chase

The infrared video shot from the helicopter shows Belander stop his pickup outside Highland High School in Gilbert. Two minutes later, he was surrounded by nine police vehicles.

A short time later, Belander could be seen fleeing from his pickup and police officers gave chase on foot. Belander later stopped and threw his hands up to surrender.

Seconds later, an officer shot Belander with a Taser, and he fell to the ground. In police reports, the officers claimed Belander refused to show his hands and reached for his waist. Once on the ground, Belander began fighting with officers, who admitted in their reports to kicking and wrestling with him.

Belander was hit with a Taser a second time before being placed in handcuffs.

Injuries

Belander pleaded guilty to felony attempted aggravated assault for an unrelated incident on Sept. 3, 2009. In court documents, Belander's attorney, Geoffrey H. Fish, claims the attack left his client with a broken nose, two fractured ribs and "numerous contusions and lacerations."

The lawsuit accuses the officers of using excessive force, negligence, battery and violating Belander's constitutional rights.

Mesa police and city officials generally do not speaking on pending litigation. In May, Belander and his attorney offered to settle the incident with the city for $350,000.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2011/01/11/20110111mesa-police-beating-lawsuit0112.html

Gilbert Taser incident: Man seeks $600,000 from town

For the second time in six months, Gilbert is facing a possible lawsuit from a man complaining police used excessive force in firing a Taser to incapacitate him before arrest.

Justin Lowell McLemore, 29, was arrested on June 10 at the Hyatt Place hotel near Val Vista Drive and Pecos Road after an altercation with a family member earlier in the evening.

Gilbert police used a Taser to incapacitate McLemore after he did not comply with orders to lie on the ground, according to a notice of claim filed on his behalf.

McLemore, a former Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputy, claims police acted on "irresponsible and inaccurate statements" and escalated the confrontation to "completely unnecessary levels" before shooting him in the chest with the Taser.

He wants a $600,000 settlement for an alleged violation of his civil rights and "the excruciating pain" inflicted by the Taser, according to the claim.

Tasers use a compressed nitrogen cartridge to propel two probes at a range of 15 to 35 feet, according to report from Scottsdale-based manufacturer Taser International. The energy can penetrate one inch of clothing, and the "initial effect" can last from about five seconds for law enforcement products and up to 30 seconds for consumer market models.

More than 15,000 law enforcement agencies in over 50 countries have purchased or tested the company's products, and about 5,000 police departments have purchased or are purchasing Taser devices to issue to all on-duty patrol officers, according to the company report.

McLemore's arrest came after a family member pulled a knife on him during a "minor altercation," and McLemore went to Hyatt Place to visit friends, according to the claim.

Gilbert police found McLemore by "pinging" his cell phone, a process that allows authorities to track a suspect by locating the nearest cell tower. At least 11 officers arrived, and McLemore said the situation was "(expletive) ridiculous" as he approached police, according to the claim.

When an officer ordered McLemore to lie on the ground, he instead walked to a police car and placed his hands on the car. He again refused to comply when ordered to lie down.

"The subject did not comply with my orders," Gilbert Officer Todd Johnson wrote in his report. "I activated my Taser and the probes struck the subject in the chest."

McLemore dropped to the ground and was arrested.

Police officers' use of Tasers has generated widespread criticism and support. The incidents have yielded numerous claims and lawsuits, including several in the Southeast Valley.

In July, Phoenix police Officer Seth Samuel Castillo filed a $500,000 claim after he was found on Jan. 3 "slumped over" behind the wheel of a black Jeep Commander, which was blocking an intersection in his Gilbert neighborhood, according to a police report.

A Gilbert police officer ordered Castillo out of the vehicle and told him to put his hands on the car. Castillo reportedly dropped his arms, and the officer, fearing he might draw a weapon, shot him in the back with the Taser, according to the report.

Gilbert has not paid to settle that claim, and Castillo has yet to file a civil lawsuit, town spokeswoman Beth Lucas said.

In 2007, an 18-year-old Gilbert man died after police used a Taser to shock him. An investigation by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office later determined drugs to be the primary cause of death and did not list the Taser strike as a contributing factor.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2010/12/30/20101230gilbert-police-taser-incident-man-seeks-600k.html

Madrigal lawsuit on police shooting hits $227,365 but still stalled

The shooting death of Mario Madrigal Jr. has cost Mesa hundreds of thousands of dollars, even though the 4-year-old civil suit doesn't even have a trial date yet.

So far, the city has paid an outside law firm, Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, $227,365 to defend the case, according to City Attorney Debbie Spinner, who released the price tag in response to a public-records request.

The wrongful death case filed by the boy's parents revolves around whether police were justified in shooting the 15-year-old to death after he slashed at officers with a knife. Family members say the boy was falling to ground after being hit with a Taser and was shot in the back.U.S. District Court Judge Earl Carroll has yet to issue any rulings or schedule hearings on several key motions pending in the marathon case, which was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court in 2004 and then moved to federal court two years later.

The motions include the city's attempt to have the case dismissed and an attempt by the Madrigals' attorney to eventually show jurors an animated version of the shooting.

The Mesa City Council was briefed behind closed doors on the case's status on Dec. 4.

"The city looks at every case and constantly evaluates its merit,"said Steve Wright, a city spokesman. The choice is whether to fight the suit or settle out of court, Wright said. More than five years after the Aug. 25, 2003, shooting, the city and the Madrigal family still have vastly different versions of what happened that night.

They agree only that the family called police because Mario Jr. was intoxicated and armed with a knife and they feared he might commit suicide.

The family's attorney, Ray Slomski, argues in court documents that the shooting was unnecessary, that three officers shot Mario Jr. 10 times in a kitchen doorway as he was falling to the ground.

"The nearest police officer was approximately 10 feet away from the falling boy when the first shot was fired," according to the court records.
 

Slomski said the shots struck Mario Jr. in his left side and his back as he was turning away from officers.

The three officers were cleared of wrongdoing by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

Marc Steadman, an assistant Mesa city attorney, argues that Mario Jr. cursed at police "and came at Officer (Mark) Beckett, slashing at him with a knife."

Beckett, Officer Richard Henry and Sgt. Tracey Dean fired "because they believed Mario would stab Officer Beckett if he was not stopped. They reasonably believed Officer Beckett's life was in danger," Steadman wrote.

After the shooting, Beckett said, "I thought I was was going to die," according to the city's motion for summary judgment.

Dean and Henry have retired from the force. Beckett still works in the patrol division in the Red Mountain precinct.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/2009/01/06/20090106mr-madrigal0107.html

Mesa pays $2 million to settle police shooting case

by Nathan Gonzalez - Sept. 25, 2008 06:06 PM
The Mesa Republic

Mesa has agreed to pay $2 million to the family of James Deon Lennox, who was fatally shot in 2006 by a Mesa detective after Lennox fought with and threw a plastic chair at the officer.

The settlement, reached in June but just coming to light, comes more than a year after Lennox's family filed suit in federal court, alleging Detective David Kohler used excessive force when he shot the 35-year-old father of four.

"We feel vindicated," Lennox's mother, Joetta Cooper, said from her Sacramento home. "I'm glad he can now rest in peace and the family can now move on. Life cannot move on until you forgive. Your life will be at a standstill."

 

Deputy City Attorney Mark Ishikawa said the settlement, the second-largest in city history, is not an admission of wrongdoing by Kohler or the city.

"In an incident like this, just because something is settled doesn't mean anything was done wrong," Ishikawa said. "We just had a difference of opinion of the facts of the case."

The March 30, 2006, incident began after Lennox and his live-in girlfriend returned from celebrating his recent promotion. The couple got into an argument and police were called. 

Three officers, including Kohler, were on the scene when one used pepper spray to subdue Lennox, according to the family's lawsuit. He twice attempted to surrender to police. Kohler threw Lennox to the ground and the two began wrestling, the suit said.

"Several of the witnesses to the event stated the officer used an ethnic slur before the shooting," said Herb Ely, the Lennox family attorney. Police have denied that.

Lennox rose to his feet and flung a chair, hitting Kohler in the shoulder, the lawsuit states. Lennox then threw a second chair and Kohler fired twice, hitting Lennox in the chest and shoulder.

Kohler told investigators he fired at Lennox after the man punched him several times in the face, threw the plastic chair and was reaching for a metal chair.

Kohler was cleared of wrongdoing.

"The police officer should not have felt he was in danger," Ely said. "This was a lawn chair that weighed a few pounds."

The incident will be reviewed by the department's Use of Force Board, which will determine whether Kohler violated any policies or if additional training for officers is needed, said Sgt. Ed Wessing, a police spokesman.

"At the request of the city, they asked that we didn't do that review until the case was resolved," Wessing said.

Kohler, an 18-year veteran of the department, declined, through Wessing, to comment.

Chief George Gascón indefinitely removed Kohler from outside field work after the detective was involved in another shooting this year, Wessing said.

Lennox's mother said she no longer faults Kohler or the Police Department. She blamed lawmakers and policymakers who "allow police to shoot if they are in any way in danger."

"The laws they put in place allowed for this to happen," she said. "Back in the day, they had lynching for minorities. As far as I'm concerned, the modern-day lynching is a shooting by police officer."

The largest payout by the city was $2.4 million to Bruce Bellemore, who in 2004 fell about 10 feet from a tree and landed on his head after he was shot twice with a Taser stun gun by a police officer. The incident left him a quadriplegic.