Posted on 11/15/2006 10:34:39 PM PST by ozoneliar
I don't want to go into details on this board, but suffice it to say I was recently manhandled/assaulted by 2 police officers without justification(like I said I want to keep the details thin, for privacy/legal reasons). I suffered no lasting physical injuries.
I am not really sure where to go with this(if anywhere). The way I view it I have 3 non-mutually exclusive options.
A)File an internal affairs complaint
B)Pursue a civil suit against the local government.
C)Pursue a civil rights violation case with the DOJ.
Like I have said before, the assault was 100% unjustified, and I have several credible eyewitnesses. Furthermore one witness heard one of the cops say something to the effect that he was going to mess me up. I have never had ANY trouble with the law. I am concerned that it would a costly and possibly futile endeavor to sue the city. But, this whole incident disturbed me immensely, and I feel it must be addressed. I would be extremely grateful if anybody could offer some advice.
I'd go with A and C first. Leave the lawsuit as a last resort.
Hard to say w/out knowing facts. Do you have a lawyer?
Guess you haven't been paying attention in law school.
Thin is the operative word here.
TT
I'm getting one as soon as I can.
I'm asking in general terms what I should do, if anybody wants I can FRmail some details.
Did you call them or did someone else call them?
Better yet was 911 involved?
TT
No 911 was involved, the incident occurred in a public area. They took the initiative on me.
The system almost always insists that you go the administrative route FIRST. If no relief or action there, then you think about court. And even if you don't HIRE one, run your story by a lawyer who specializes in such cases. The first visit is often at no cost.
Does this exclude lodging a complaint with the DOJ?
Is this Campus Police, City, County...
Were you on Campus, in town...
More details are needed,
TT
In town, large city.
Your profile says you are IN law school -- ?
You will PROBABLY wind up with a stronger case if you do the IAD administrative thing first. Again, if no response or still not satisfied that the locals are taking your complaint seriously or not acting on your complaint, go the DOJ or court route.
If it DOES get to court, you will look to a jury more like an abused citizen if, in addition to the original event, the locals appear to have blown you off.
I'm sure I don't need to tell you that your FIRST problem is that the original event will be your word against theirs -- and two of them at that. It may be however, that the guy(s) in question ARE "cowboys" who have had OTHER citizen abuse complaints lodged against them. If that is the case, many jurisdictions -- not all, but many -- WANT to either get those folks off the street (into desk jobs) or out of uniform before an innocent citizen is hurt or REAL damage is done to the honest and decent members of the force.
Good luck.
Considering you are asking for advice without offering virtually ANY details upon which to go on, I think you've been helped a lot.
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