Gelinas was speaking during the public comment period of a 4/14/10 school committee meeting. Gelinas said it was time for school officials, including Chairperson Boisselle, to be held responsible for their role in the death of Phoebe Prince. Before he could finish, Boisselle ordered Gelinas to sit down. Gelinas was escorted out of the meeting by police officers.
Plaintiff was in Yonkers City Court observing arraignment of his brother’s killer when he got into dispute with court officer, who claimed plaintiff was being too loud. Court officer arrested plaintiff for criminal contempt of court and used excessive force during arrest. Plaintiff was acquitted at trial. Plaintiff had pre-existing shoulder injury and the force caused exacerbation of pain/injury.
Excessive force involving one plaintiff and two officers. Strikes to the head with hard object while handcuffed. Minimal physical injuries. Witness saw incident from window. Officers denied completely. Original jury award of $5,000 compensatory and $100,000 punitive. Reduced to $50,000 compensatory following post trial motion to reduce punitive award.
For nearly a decade, the Boston Police Department sent female detainees to the Suffolk County Jail where they were strip searched as part of the admissions procedure. Male detainees were held in police station lockups, where they were not routinely strip searched. We won a judgment that the policy was unconstitutional. Suffolk County agreed to settle, then claimed it could not pay. We obtained a court order holding the county in contempt of court, and Suffolk County paid its share of the settlement plus interest and fines.
Damages were a night in jail and subjected to false accusations and verbal abuses. Case tried in 2010 with three more plaintiffs who had been beaten up by officers. Defense verdict, new trial motion as to father and daughter granted 5 years (no typo) later. Incident took place 6/11/04 in Watts, South Central LA. Def Bright died in the meantime. Young and a lying K-9 officer (Stambaugh) who attempted to demonize the plaintiffs was caught by a video clip that had him in a place he said he wasn’t.
Lawrence officers beat Mr. Figueroa without justification. Officers booked Mr. Figueroa, then ordered that he strip naked and placed him naked in a small lockup cell with a clothed male prisoner. They wanted to teach Mr. Figueroa a lesson: Don’t disrespect police officers. The City of Lawrence had a policy or custom of placing arrestees naked in a cell with another prisoner when a police officer claimed the arrestee was having suicidal thoughts. This unreasonable and easily abused policy permitted officers to degrade and intimidate Mr. Figueroa by falsely claiming he was suicidal.
Three plaintiffs brought consolidated cases against a Lowell detective and the City of Lowell. In 2012, informants planted drugs in the plaintiffs’ cars. Plaintiffs were falsely charged with trafficking in cocaine; charges pended for over 1 year, over 6 months, and over 5 months (w/ 3.5 months in custody). They faced mandatory minimums of 3, 2, and 8 years. All charges were dismissed due to revelation of the informants’ misconduct. The detective knew his informants were not trustworthy.
On 10/6/12, two Bellingham officers entered Ms. Graham’s home without a warrant. When Ms. Graham began to openly video record the encounter and protest the officers’ actions, Defendants arrested her, using unreasonable force. She was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and three misdemeanors. The criminal charges were dismissed. Ms. Graham’s cell phone video shows the officers arresting Ms. Graham and using unreasonable force. The case received local publicity. The case settled after an early mediation.
Plaintiff was found outside ballpark with the credit card of a police captain’s daughter. Police captain and other unknown officers beat him, put a loaded gun in his mouth, and broke teeth. Captain sentenced to 7 years prison on federal 1983 charges.
Inmate wrote mother complaining that Sgt. filed “bullsht” infractions. Mail room opened letter (correct), laughed and forwarded copy to Sgt. Sgt was furious and gave inmate 10 days cell-confinement. Inmate grieved and coordinator denied action was error, then admitted during grievance appeal that rules did not permit mailroom personnel sharing letter with custody. Court dismissed Monell but found 1st violation (“egregious” was the term judge used.