Occupy
protesters get $1.17 million in Oakland police misconduct settlement
In the second big settlement
with protesters announced in the past nine days, the city of Oakland will pay
out $1.17 million to members of the Occupy movement for police misconduct, a
term which euphemizes their actual behavior.
All of the plaintiffs, including
Oakland videographer Scott Campbell, were struck either by beanbags or
flash-bang grenades fired by officers during Occupy protests on Oct. 25, 2011
and Nov. 2, 2011, Lederman said. Settlements ranged from $20,000 to $500,000.
The biggest settlements were awarded to women struck by the grenades, which use
loud noise and bright explosions to disorient people.
Campbell, who will receive
$150,000, made international headlines when an Oakland police officer shot him
in the thigh in the early morning hours of Nov. 3 during a protest near City
Hall.
In addition to the money,
Oakland has agreed as part of negotiations over this settlement and another
announced last week to reform its crowd control policy and give the federal
government oversight for the next seven years.
Rachel Lederman, an attorney
with the National Lawyers Guild that brought both suits, was pleased the city
had settled quickly and was taking steps to keep such incidents from happening
again. But she warned that the proof will be in what the city does, not what it
promises, "so it remains to be seen whether there will be
compliance."
The catch is that Oakland
negotiated a new crowd control policy back in 2005 as a result of having
brutally treated Iraq war protesters. But in both the case of the Occupy
protesters and the 150 so-called Oscar Grant protesters arrested in November
2010, the police didn't follow their own policy.
The Oscar Grant protest was
sparked by a judge's decision to overturn a gun enhancement provision and hand
down a two-year sentence for manslaughter to the Bay Area Transit police
officer who shot Grant to death in 2009. Had the shooting not been videotaped,
it probably would not have resulted in even that weak punishment.
In the ensuing protests after
the sentencing, Oakland police carried out mass arrests and Alameda County
sheriff's deputies mistreated the people being held. The $1.025 million
settlement with both the city and the county for that misconduct was announced
June 24.
These two settlements won't be
the end. At least four more lawsuits have been filed against the city for
police misconduct relating to Occupy protests in 2011 and 2012. In those a
protester was nearly killed from being shot in the head and another viciously
beaten
Fullerton
Police to Pay $25,000 Settlement in False Arrest Case
Fullerton Police to Pay $25,000
Settlement in False Arrest Case By TRACY WOOD
| 4 comments
Fullerton has agreed to a
$25,000 federal court settlement for the 2010 arrest of a man who apparently
did nothing wrong, the OC Weekly reported.
The arresting officer was
Kenton Hampton, who a year later was one of six Fullerton police officers
involved in the fatal beating of 37-year-old Fullerton transient Kelly Thomas.
According to the Weekly, in
June 2010, Edward Quinonez was smoking a cigarette on a Fullerton sidewalk when
police made a traffic stop nearby. Hampton reportedly told Quinonez to move
away, but he didn’t.
“According to court records,
Hampton decided he needed to arrest Quinonez because he claimed he smelled the
‘strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person,' " and his
" ‘eyes were red, bloodshot and watery, and his speech was slurred,’
" the Weekly reported.
"The officer also added
that the man couldn't stand on his own; he then handcuffed him and slammed his head
up against a wall," the Weekly reported. His head was injured severely
enough that Quinonez was taken to St. Jude Hospital for treatment.
The Weekly report states that
court records, audio and video show Quinonez had no alcohol in his system, his
speech was normal and he had no trouble walking or standing.
The article reported that
Hampton later said Quinonez “may not have been drinking, but when I asked,
'What's your name?' he said, 'None of your fucking business.' "
According to the Weekly,
“During the arrest, Hampton was recorded telling his partner that he arrested
Quinonez not for public intoxication, but rather because he just thought the
man 'was a fucking asshole' who'd made a 'fucking smart-ass comment.' "
After Fullerton agreed to
settle Quinonez’ case, the Weekly reported, U.S. District Judge James V. Selna
issued a judgment July 5 in Quinonez’ favor and closed the case.
Hampton was not charged with a
crime in connection with Thomas’ July 2011 death, but three other Fullerton
officers are awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder and involuntary
manslaughter. They are Manuel Ramos, Jay Cicinelli and Joseph Wolfe.
Inmate
freed in wake of Tulsa police corruption investigation files lawsuit against
city
Another lawsuit was filed
against the city this week by a man who was freed from custody following an
investigation into corruption within the Tulsa Police Department.
Tony Maurice Becknell Jr., 33,
claims in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Tulsa County District Court, that the
city had a policy of failing to monitor and supervise officers such as Jeff
Henderson, who is serving a prison sentence after being convicted in 2011 of
six counts of perjury and two counts of civil rights violations that a jury
found he committed while was a Tulsa police officer.
His lawsuit claims that the
city of Tulsa created an environment in which police officers "were able
to freely and without fear of discipline violate the rights of the
citizens."
Last July, U.S. District Judge
James Payne ordered Becknell freed from custody in a federal drug case in which
he had been sentenced in October 2005 to 15 years and nine months in prison.
Becknell became one of at least
48 people who were freed from prison or had their cases modified because of
civil rights violations or issues stemming from the police corruption probe.
In his lawsuit, Becknell
alleges that an affidavit Henderson submitted to support a search warrant in
Becknell's criminal case "was a complete sham, fabrication and had no
basis in fact or truth."
Becknell "languished in
prison for over six years" after pleading guilty in order to avoid the
risk of receiving an even lengthier prison sentence if he had been convicted at
trial, the lawsuit says.
"He was deprived (of) his
freedom, liberty and suffered significant emotional distress, humiliation,
degradation and embarrassment as a result of living a significant portion of
his life behind bars," the complaint states.
On Feb. 27, Payne held
Henderson in contempt of court for false testimony that the court found
Henderson gave on June 29, 2012, in Becknell's case, which was being considered
for post-conviction relief. As punishment, Payne added three months to
Henderson's original 42-month prison sentence.
After Henderson identified a
man he claimed was an informant upon whom he had relied in his investigation of
Becknell years earlier, Becknell's attorney proved that the man had been
incarcerated in the Tulsa Jail at that time and could not have been used as an
informant when Henderson said he was.
Payne found that
"Henderson testified falsely with intent to obstruct the administration of
justice."
Becknell's lawsuit is at least
the 17th filed by people who claim that they were victimized by the sort of
activity that was the subject of a grand jury probe into the Tulsa Police
Department. The investigation resulted in charges against six current or former
Tulsa police officers and an ex-federal agent, as well as accusations of
criminal behavior against five officers who were never charged.
The city has been dismissed as
a party from several of those lawsuits. However, U.S. District Judge Tim
Leonard has set a Jan. 21 trial date in a case filed by Bobby Wayne Haley Sr.
On June 4, Leonard found that
Haley "presented sufficient evidence that, if believed by a jury, would
support a finding of deliberate indifference to the need for training (of
officers) on civil rights matters and for additional oversight of the search
warrant process."
Besides Henderson and the city
of Tulsa, Becknell's lawsuit also named various "John Doe" officers
and former Tulsa Police Chief Ron Palmer as defendants.
Becknell alleges in his lawsuit
that the city and Palmer knew that Henderson "disregarded or otherwise did
not follow departmental policy, rules and regulations and willfully and
intentionally refused to undertake the necessary remedial efforts to protect
the citizens of Tulsa from him."
Henderson, who has appealed
both his 2011 conviction and the contempt ruling, is scheduled to be released
on Oct. 25, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
