2013

On August 28, 2011, West Bridgewater police officer Robert Piepiora was working a paid detail at a bar. William Ortiz was outside using his cell phone to call for a ride when the bar’s manager began aggressively telling Ortiz that he could not drive. Ortiz, who had already assured the manager that he was not driving, told the manager to leave him alone. Without warning, Piepiora grabbed Ortiz from behind and slammed him face first into the pavement. The impact knocked out two of Ortiz’s teeth and fractured his upper jaw bone. He required a bone graft to repair his jaw.

N.M. (15) was walking to an after-school program when N.M. was arrested by 4 Boston police officers for armed robbery, although the officers had no reason to suspect N.M. of that crime. The robbery victim told the officers that N.M. was not involved in the crime. All of the criminal charges against N.M. were dropped after a prosecutor spoke to the victim. At the police station, an officer denied N.M. any opportunity to post bail. N.M. was sent to a juvenile detention center in Lowell and held overnight.

My client’s car was stopped without p.c. of wrongdoing and he was eventually tasered three times. He received stitches in his lip that had to be repaired 2 additional times.

Assault by inmate on inmate; broken jaw. Institution failed to provide necessary and proper medical treatment during recovery, including improper meals for over 20 days (solid food he could not chew, then in retaliation sugary pudding and over-salty soup that could not be digested)

Officer Lecy threw Plaintiff to the ground after Plaintiff was in handcuffs. Officer Lecy also stated that “all you Native Americans are nothing but fucking animals.” Plaintiff said during his deposition that he suffered neck stiffness and emotional distress as a result of Officer Lecy’s excessive force and racist remark. In exchange for Plaintiff’s agreement to dismiss his claim for infliction of emotional distress, Defendants agreed not to bring a motion for summary judgment.

In 2012 client was pulled over on his motorcycle for his license plate light supposedly not being bright enough and then cited for not having a proper motorcycle license. After client received his citation, he was allowed to leave the scene on foot with his helmet and keys as the officers impounded the motorcycle. The officers later decided they wanted the keys to make towing the motorcycle easier. The officers then made contact with client about a ½ mile from the stop and requested the keys. Client refused to give the keys to them and was arrested.

Bifcurcated case. Plaintiff, a closed-head injury patient, was in his home when his wife phone local LEO to get her cell phone from her husband. While inside Plaintiff’s home, the officers jumped and beat Plaintiff with a baton. Officer testified that it “slipped” into an extended position; physical injuries demonstrated repeated blows. Fellow officer testified that based on the physical evidence, it couldn’t possibly have happened the way the defendant officer described…settled shortly after his officer’s deposition. 

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.

Plaintiff, Gerald Wilcox, 43, was arrested in his home in a quiet Detroit suburb by two Detroit Police Dep’t. officers looking for a Gerald Wilcox in his 20s who robbed a Family Dollar store in Detroit the previous day. The warrantless arrest, without consent or exigent circumstances, occurred in front of Wilcox’s wife and teenge son. Wilcox spent 15 days in the county jail before the Officer-in-Charge admitted that he learned the night of the arrest that the plaintiff was the wrong person. Charges were dismissed 6 weeks after the arrest when an eyewitness told the prosecutor that Mr.

The City of Madison and its insurance company have agreed to pay $2.3 million to settle the civil rights claims of the family of Paul Heenan, the thirty-year old musician and recording engineer who was shot and killed by Madison Police Officer Stephen Heimsness, on November 9, 2012, after he mistook a neighbor’s Baldwin Street house for the one he had moved into a week earlier, prompting a 911 call.