Fourth Amendment - False Arrest

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.

Simon Glik was arrested for illegal wiretapping for openly using his cell phone to record police brutality by the Boston police. Our lawsuit, brought with the ACLU of Mass., argued that the arrest violated Mr. Glik’s clearly established constitutional rights. The Defendants lost a motion to dismiss and appealed to the First Circuit. David Milton argued the appeal. The appeals court’s landmark decision in August 2011 declared that the First Amendment protects the right to record police carrying out their duties in a public place.

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.

Officer Nate Kinsey hit Plaintiff in the face with a closed fist, and officers then pulled Plaintiff from the rear of a vehicle. Plaintiff was subsequently prone on the ground and his hands were above his head. Nevertheless, Officer Kinsey hit Plaintiff with a closed fist approximately nine more times. Officer Schwarze removed the cartridge from his Taser, held the trigger down, and delivered approximately three drive stuns to Plaintiff. Officer Aric Gallatin kicked Plaintiff approximately three times and stomped on him approximately twice.

On March 16, 2009, Boston police officers attacked O’Brien because they were angry that he was filming them with his cell phone. Officer Diep Nguyen grabbed O’Brien’s phone while officer David Williams threw O’Brien to the ground. Williams put his arms around O’Brien’s neck and applied pressure, choking O’Brien. Officers struck O’Brien in the head, causing bleeding and a contusion in his brain. Mr. O’Brien has not been able to return to work as a correctional officer.

Plaintiff was in the wrong place at the wrong time, as officers were raiding the upstairs unit in the duplex where Plaintiff lived downstairs. Plaintiff was hit by the front door to the duplex when Officer Peter Stanton rammed it open. Plaintiff was subsequently thrown to the floor and stomped on by Officer Stanton, though Officer Stanton denied stomping on Plaintiff.

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.

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.