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Lawsuit against Corvallis PD officer settled in favor of pro se plaintiff

M

Mike

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As for the "tresspass" justification for the seizure, that's crazy unless the person was banned from the RR property or proper posting of the property.

Every time you walk across private property it's a tresspass at common law, and you could be sued for nominal damages and maybe an injunction - it's a civil suit matter - not a police or criminal matter
 
bigtoe416

bigtoe416

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Mike said:
As for the "tresspass" justification for the seizure, that's crazy unless the person was banned from the RR property or proper posting of the property.

Every time you walk across private property it's a tresspass at common law, and you could be sued for nominal damages and maybe an injunction - it's a civil suit matter - not a police or criminal matter
Click to expand...

I think he was trying to argue that he suspected me of this statute:

ORS 164.255
A person commits the crime of criminal trespass in the first degree if the person:
(c) Enters or remains unlawfully upon railroad yards, tracks, bridges or rights of way; or
Click to expand...

As you can see though, the wording of the law says railroad yards, tracks, bridges or rights of way. He said he suspected me of coming from an empty gravel lot that the railroad owned. Even in that case I wouldn't have been coming from a railroad yard, tracks, bridges, or rights of way. Further down the railroad tracks (about 100 yards) there is an overpass that would force any pedestrian traffic to be funneled closer to the railroad tracks, but he never said that's where he suspected me of trespassing.
 
We-the-People

We-the-People

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Good job!!!!!

I know all too well how difficult a Pro Se case can be. Kudos to you for putting forth the effort and getting your redress of grievances.

Do you know if this case will be able to be used as precedent so that other Oregonian's can reference it in future cases?

ADDED ON EDIT:
I would also like to say that I have read a LOT of cases in which the court ruled that while there was an unlawful detainment, that it didn't rise to the level of supporting damages. Many of those cases involved far more offensive conduct than what this officer did. I think it's great that you were able to get a ruling in which the court took a relatively minor (compared to some of the other unlawful detainments I'm aware of around the state) violation by the officer and refused to give him a "pass".

DAMN FINE WIN
 
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DocWalker

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davidmcbeth said:
The town has the option of picking up the "tab" ... they usually do unless he does something horrible.
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What would your definision of horrible be?

Mine would be a power inflated cop harrassing a LAC for no other reason of being on a power trip.

Would you feel different if you or your child was harrassed by a cop on a power trip?

Just asking as your statement seems you don't think what the cop did in this case was horrible.


As for this so called officer he not only got payed overtime at taxpayer expense he is still on the street to harrass and abuse everyone in the town. Maybe next time he will just silence the LAC with a bullet so they can't complain next time and claim self defense. I'm sure that has never happened.
 
bigtoe416

bigtoe416

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We-the-People said:
Do you know if this case will be able to be used as precedent so that other Oregonian's can reference it in future cases?
Click to expand...

I don't think it is going to be published, but I am not familiar with how that process works. I'm pretty sure it will be citable in some fashion, maybe via lexisnexus, so other Oregonians should be able to reference it.
 
DocWalker

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Was this story on the local news? Did it get any air time so that the public in your town knows of this? The public should be made aware of this officer and that they cost the local tax payer money; if I have to pay a bill then I would like to know why.
 
bigtoe416

bigtoe416

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DocWalker said:
Was this story on the local news? Did it get any air time so that the public in your town knows of this? The public should be made aware of this officer and that they cost the local tax payer money; if I have to pay a bill then I would like to know why.
Click to expand...

I don't believe any news organization has covered the story yet. I've contemplated contacting a local newspaper but I don't really have much desire to bring attention to the case. I'd like people to know that the Corvallis police department did a poor job of investigating my complaint and that open carry is legal, but that's about it. I'm still mulling it all over.

JC_Biggs said:
may i suggest you take some of that money and go to law school?? we could use you and you obviously enjoy it.
Click to expand...

Actually I very much dislike it. It's extremely stressful and time consuming. I may do a decent job at writing arguments but the thought of doing it for a living is not at all appealing.
 
DocWalker

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Bigtoe,

First I forgot to tell you congrats.

Second to say thanks for all the hard work you have put into this, the cops are banking people can't afford the money nor time to persue these cases.

Third, I'm not telling you what to do but IMHO the media needs to run this both in the papers and on the local news stations. If it is just you, the department, and the judge that know about this the PD doesn't have any reason to change. If the voter's tell the mayor or city leaders they are pissed about this and they will lose votes they department will get pressure to change. But if it is swept under the rug then nothing will change and another will be harrassed, then another and another.

Most won't persue nor put in the time and money that you did.
 
davidmcbeth

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DocWalker said:
What would your definision of horrible be?

.
Click to expand...

If the cop would have beaten him within inches of his life....its hard to defend a guy in that situation and also if a court/jury awards 1 million bucks, a town may balk.

I see the current law that towns get to pick and decide as unjust to the community.

If, as an employee of a business, you make an adjustment to a customer's machinery and you end end breaking it .. the company takes on this liability.

If, on the other hand, you make an adjustment knowing it would break the machinery, then you and the company would be liable.

The law gives them qualified immunity - if they lose that, then they should be held personally accountable ALWAYS. But that is not how the law is ... they have a second "cushion" of protection...and this dual cushion of personal liability creates, in their mind, iron-clad protection. And, sadly, it is in most cases just this.
 
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DocWalker

DocWalker

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davidmcbeth said:
If the cop would have beaten him within inches of his life....its hard to defend a guy in that situation and also if a court/jury awards 1 million bucks, a town may balk.

I see the current law that towns get to pick and decide as unjust to the community.

If, as an employee of a business, you make an adjustment to a customer's machinery and you end end breaking it .. the company takes on this liability.

If, on the other hand, you make an adjustment knowing it would break the machinery, then you and the company would be liable.

The law gives them qualified immunity - if they lose that, then they should be held personally accountable ALWAYS. But that is not how the law is ... they have a second "cushion" of protection...and this dual cushion of personal liability creates, in their mind, iron-clad protection. And, sadly, it is in most cases just this.
Click to expand...

As in this case the OP didn't get beat down but did have his 4th amendment shreaded, had his time wasted, and the LEO LIED. To me this is defined as to much and the public should know about it.

Sad but the community who is on the hook for the settlement and the officers overtime probably won't even hear about it as the department doesn't want the bad press, the mayor doesn't want the bad press (he might have to correct the problem) and the media doesn't want to loose their access to the cops so they can get the scoops on other stories.

The officer should be fired, simple as that.
 
badkarma

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Great work. We have a few folks here in Washington who had a similar experience but chose to retain lawyers. Not that $5K plus court cost totally compensated you but it is all yours. You earned every bit of it.
 
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SteveM

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It is encouraging to see that this is still a country that a citizen can receive justice in without having to retain an attorney to do so.

I lived for 7 years in Corvallis and never had any trouble with the police, but then I never carried openly there and spent a lot of time on the OSU campus without the benefit of my 2A rights.
 
O

oc4ever

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Congradulations

I want to congratulate you on your win. However, I also want to put some reality to this. A 5-10 minute unlawful detention where you where not moved, does not cause $5000 in damages unless you lost your job, your where injured or some other public embarrassment occurred. The City settled not because you would have gotten "big bucks" at trial, you probably would not. The settled because that other lawyer had probably billed the city, or the insurance company defending the city, $15-25K in defense cost already. This was just the cheap way out of a ongoing defense cost that was just going to get bigger as a trial approached. I think if you would have pushed as a condition of settlement for ongoing continued training regarding open carry by the police department, you would have got it, as it does not cost them much to do roll-call training. If they ever do this nonsense to anyone else, they can use your settlement as proof of continued encroachment of rights, and the next guy will win much bigger. One of the things you should have done during discovery is have them list all complaints , lawsuits , etc they have been involved with over the last 10 years. Depending on the police Department, it can be a short list, or very long and ugly list.
I speak from great experience having my civil rights case against a city go all the way to the California supreme court for review. They city spent more $$ in defense cost than the low six figure settlement that I received in a civil rights jury verdict against them. The appeals cost raised the verdict actually awarded substantially, as each court ordered the City to pay every last dime of cost of my legal fees (with interest). Remember, the lawyers always win. Thank you for taking the time to do this. This work you did is a labor of righting a wrong. The cities only give a damn about paying settlements, not your rights. Getting hit in the pocketbook is the only thing that tempers their actions. The officer, may not be quite as foolish jacking up the next citizen he comes across. If More of people like you followed through on complaints, officers would tread a hell of a lot lighter and act more civil. I am sure if this was by the hour, you would not even made minimum wage.
 
davidmcbeth

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oc4ever said:
I want to congratulate you on your win. However, I also want to put some reality to this. A 5-10 minute unlawful detention where you where not moved, does not cause $5000 in damages unless you lost your job, your where injured or some other public embarrassment occurred. The City settled not because you would have gotten "big bucks" at trial, you probably would not. The settled because that other lawyer had probably billed the city, or the insurance company defending the city, $15-25K in defense cost already. This was just the cheap way out of a ongoing defense cost that was just going to get bigger as a trial approached. I think if you would have pushed as a condition of settlement for ongoing continued training regarding open carry by the police department, you would have got it, as it does not cost them much to do roll-call training. If they ever do this nonsense to anyone else, they can use your settlement as proof of continued encroachment of rights, and the next guy will win much bigger. One of the things you should have done during discovery is have them list all complaints , lawsuits , etc they have been involved with over the last 10 years. Depending on the police Department, it can be a short list, or very long and ugly list.
I speak from great experience having my civil rights case against a city go all the way to the California supreme court for review. They city spent more $$ in defense cost than the low six figure settlement that I received in a civil rights jury verdict against them. The appeals cost raised the verdict actually awarded substantially, as each court ordered the City to pay every last dime of cost of my legal fees (with interest). Remember, the lawyers always win. Thank you for taking the time to do this. This work you did is a labor of righting a wrong. The cities only give a damn about paying settlements, not your rights. Getting hit in the pocketbook is the only thing that tempers their actions. The officer, may not be quite as foolish jacking up the next citizen he comes across. If More of people like you followed through on complaints, officers would tread a hell of a lot lighter and act more civil. I am sure if this was by the hour, you would not even made minimum wage.
Click to expand...

A good synopsis. I would add that one does not get justice; they get compensation .. 2 distinctly different concepts.

And one can file a civil case against almost anyone and get a 5K settlement ~ even with goofy cases.
 
Primus

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Do you video tape and voice record your mail man? If your mail man asked you your name would you walk away or ask if you were detained? Probably not because he's another human being. If a stranger asked how your day was or asked what your name was would you respond the same way? There's still a person under the shirt who puts his pants on the same way. If you treated people of a certain race/ethnicity (avoid, record, videotape) you'd be sued yourself for civil rights violations.... but it is good to see you were able to defend yourself and the system does work. Congrats on that and good luck with future endeavors.
 
OC for ME

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Letter carriers don't troll "railroad yards" looking to "trespass" citizens. Besides, your letter carrier likely knows your name cuz he delivers you mail. Some cops, on the other hand, troll OCers in the hopes of discouraging the exercise of our right. Also, there is no law that compels me to associate with anyone, especially citizens of the protected classes.

Cops are people too, right up to the point they deprive me om my rights, then they are noting more to me than a agent of the state and no longer a citizen worthy of my concern or empathy.
 
bigtoe416

bigtoe416

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Primus said:
Do you video tape and voice record your mail man? If your mail man asked you your name would you walk away or ask if you were detained? Probably not because he's another human being. If a stranger asked how your day was or asked what your name was would you respond the same way? There's still a person under the shirt who puts his pants on the same way. If you treated people of a certain race/ethnicity (avoid, record, videotape) you'd be sued yourself for civil rights violations.... but it is good to see you were able to defend yourself and the system does work. Congrats on that and good luck with future endeavors.
Click to expand...

Non-peace officers lack the power to detain, and the power we do have, to arrest, is rarely used. If somebody has placed me under citizen's arrest, you better believe I'd be recording it though. My first interaction with a Corvallis PD officer was seemingly pleasant, I introduced myself and chatted for a few minutes. Did I record the interaction? Yes. Did I ask if I was being detained? Yes. From that interaction I learned that Corvallis PD likes to investigate and gather information on legal activity. The officer wrote a report about our conversation and saved video of me on four separate occasions. When I filed a police complaint comparing the collection of information for somebody exercising their right to practice religion to somebody bearing arms, I was told they were completely different. The investigating lieutenant had no issue with officers spending time investigating lawful behavior. It was fairly clear that Corvallis PD was a fairly corrupt department. My subsequent interactions with them have only confirmed this belief. Fortunately the new Chief seems like a decent guy, so maybe over time they'll get better, but I'm not holding my breath.

Regarding the $5k of damages comment from oc4ever, as you're aware, a settlement is just money to stop the case. There's no admitting of fault (beyond what the judge had ruled) or admitting that damage took place. There's a case in WA where an OCer had a gun pointed at him while he was carrying, he was awarded $15k. I think that's low. There was a case in NM where a man who was forcefully removed from a movie theater and told to disarm before returning got $20k. I'm not too familiar with other cases in other states. I think one guy had two lawsuits that he won, one of which bought him a nice motorcycle, but I'm not at all familiar with the details. Getting $5k isn't smashing any records, but it's something substantial and Judge McShane's opinion is another open carry detainment citation that can be used.
 
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