Posted on 12/1/2007, 8:22:50 PM by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES (AP) ― A former girls' basketball coach wrongly accused of sexual assault has settled with the city of San Marino for $2.1 million.
Patrick Gillan sued the city of San Marino and several of its police offers nearly six years ago for defamation, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotion distress and malicious prosecution, court documents say.
In 2001 a police officer suggested at a news conference that Gillan might have molested several girls. Gillan was arrested but released an hour later and never charged. He was reinstated in 2002 but eventually resigned.
In 2005, the jury awarded him $4.4 million. The city appealed the ruling and both sides agreed to settle.
2.1 million sounds like a lot of money but a decent house in San Marino probably costs around that much.
There are certain causes for which the liberals will very willingly abuse your civil rights. Better that you be a known terrorist than a suspected abuser, because liberals will stick up for you.
Will get you a nice place in the current market: http://homes.realtor.com/search/searchresults.aspx?ctid=12671&mnp=43&mxp=43&typ=7
Maybe the San Marino pigs will think twice before carrying out another trial in the press.
I lived in San Marino for a brief time in the early 90s. They can easily afford this settlement.
There was so much money there - more than Beverly Hills, even - that the kids were spoiled to the point of absolute corruptness.
Pretty neighborhoods, though. When Hollywood needs to film an “Any Nice Town, USA” tree-lined-street-full-of-houses scene, it often goes there.
Here’s where I’d rather be:
http://homes.realtor.com/search/searchresults.aspx?ctid=31454&ml=3&mxp=54&typ=7
http://federalism.typepad.com/crime_federalism/government_misconduct/index.html
He was arrested in December 2001 for investigation of sexually assaulting a female student who alleged she was molested several times when she was 17.
Soon after, police held a news conference and showed Gillan’s mug shot, which was then broadcast on several TV stations and published in a few newspapers. Gillan was released after being booked, but court documents said that he had only been “detained.”
Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien ruled Thursday that there was no probable cause for the arrest.
***
During the civil trial, attorneys for the police department argued that officers were doing their job to investigate the girl’s claims and weren’t liable for damages.
But Gillan’s attorney John Burton said some people still see his client as a threat and the negative publicity has done damage to his reputation. Burton said the accusations were fueled by the girl’s family who wanted the girl to become a Division I college basketball star.
The girl, Taylor Bouchard, who is 21 and testified at the trial, ended up at a Division III college and told her coach she had been molested by Gillan while in high school.
“It was an excuse she had made up to get her out of a situation with college basketball and her over-domineering parents,” Burton told jurors.
Bouchard, who continues to maintain she was molested, and her mother, were named in the lawsuit but were dropped as part of a settlement agreement. (snip)
Now, if that message could only be brought home to the Nancy’s and the Greta’s and the Kimberley’s!
Flip that double wide.
Well, if the wind gets high enough and the straps don't hold - you'll be in for a heck of a ride.
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