By Vivian Wang
An immigration attorney who was
arrested two years ago for bringing a firearm into the Criterion Cinemas movie
theater has filed a lawsuit against the City of New Haven and Police Chief Dean
Esserman, alleging false arrest and police misconduct.
Sung-Ho Hwang, who practices
law in the Elm City, was charged with breach of peace and interfering with
officers in August 2012 after he brought a gun to a showing of the “Dark Knight
Rises.” The gun was licensed, and all charges were eventually dropped in
December 2012. Hwang, claiming that his reputation suffered in the wake of the
incident, is charging the city with false arrest, arguing that the city held
him in custody without probable cause, and instituted malicious prosecution.
“This case is not about Second
Amendment rights,” said Steven Errante, Hwang’s attorney. “This case is about
vindicating Mr. Hwang’s reputation because he was arrested with no
justification whatsoever.”
In August 2012, around 20
officers responded to reports that a man had brought an unconcealed weapon into
the theater. This incident came less than a month after the mass shooting in
Aurora, Colorado, when a gunman opened fire at a midnight screening of the same
film, killing 12 people.
Errante
said that Hwang understands the fear that must have accompanied the sight of an
armed man in the theater, and also does not blame the subsequent police
investigation. However, he said that Hwang’s suit
takes issue with the way the case was handled after the police established
Hwang’s weapon was licensed.
According to Errante, rather
than apologize for the mistake, Esserman ordered Hwang arrested to “save face,”
rather than apologize for the mistake.
“They arrested him for
publicity reasons,” Errante said. “All sorts of police cars were there — a SWAT
team and TV news crews had shown up. It became a big deal, and my supposition
is the police chief didn’t want to walk out and say ‘False alarm; everybody go
home.’”
Esserman declined to comment on
the lawsuit.
Hwang’s arrest made headlines
across the city. The lawyer’s reputation suffered a severe blow as a result,
according to John Williams, a New Haven lawyer who specializes in police
misconduct cases.
Hwang’s strong public presence
across the city, Williams said, only made the damage to his reputation worse.
“He was a highly respected
attorney in the community and had just been elected to be president of the New
Haven County Bar Association,” Williams said. “According to conversation among
a lot of lawyers in town, he was a likely candidate for a judicial position in
the near future. Now he may still be, but there can’t be any doubt that an
arrest like that would’ve had a terrible impact on his professional career.”
Williams said that one of the
major challenges in the case will be providing evidence for a damaged
reputation, considering that damage to reputation is often intangible and
difficult to quantify in monetary terms. Such cases are especially challenging
when they are brought against the police, he added.
“The average citizen or juror
believes the police can do no wrong,” Williams said. “But, as a former New
Haven police chief once said, police departments recruit from the human race.”
Nevertheless, neither Errante
nor Williams said they did not think that New Haven had more police misconduct
cases than any other city. Hwang’s arrest was more likely a one-time incident
rather than part of a larger trend of false arrests, Errante said, adding that
the arrest was likely made as a product of the fear that followed the Colorado
shooting.
When asked for comment, the
City of New Haven communications office said that it is “extremely limited” in
what it can say about pending litigation.
“The City is aware of this
matter and will respond accordingly at the appropriate time,” said New Haven
Deputy Corporation Counsel Christopher Neary in an email to the News. “Suffice
it to say for now The City believes that the New Haven Police Department acted
appropriately under the circumstances.”
The City has until Oct. 2 to
respond to the lawsuit, according to the New Haven Register.