The city of Galveston, Texas is
facing a lawsuit from Jarrett Anthony Neu over an allegation of police
brutality that includes cops seizing the wrong cellphone.
Neu claims that Galveston
police arrested him at 4:45 p.m. on March 11, without a warrant, at a Galveston
apartment complex. He claims they lied about it in the police report. He claims
they subjected him not only to threats, intimidation, insult and humiliation,
but severe and cruel physical abuse and punishment by both physical beating and
the repeated unnecessary and unwarranted deployment of a less-than-lethal Taser
weapon on plaintiff. Plaintiff, who suffers from a pre-existing cardiac
ailment, suffered permanent and debilitating injuries as well as permanent
disfigurement and scarring at the hands of these police officers. During this
police administered beating, officers realized that a citizen was filming the
beating via cell phone and the officer's involved without a legal reason seized
(the wrong) cell phone. Counsel for plaintiff has the cell phone that recorded
the beating. The conduct of defendant violated plaintiff's rights under the
1st, 4th, 8th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution."
Courthouse News notes it’s the
first time they’ve reported a claim that police took a wrong cellphone while
trying to seize video evidence of brutality, a growing trend with the rise of
phone cameras.
