What do you all think of my police excessive force case?

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
why not?

if i had stitches from surgery and then police officers arrested me beat me and broke open those stitches for no reason, you don't think they would be responsible 100% for breaking open those stitches? regardless of whether the cut was there before or not, doesn't matter, the police offices did something they SHOULD NOT HAVE.



a lot of really really stupid people posting in this thread.

Yep, I knew I'd get people to shift toward this like a typical P&N lynching session. Where in there did I say that what they did was alright? Oh, that's right... I DIDN'T. I purposely left out any mention of the fact that I think excessive force is wrong in most cases (and in this one, it is) to see what kind of response I'd get, and I got just as expected.

You see, stitches are a fairly poor example as if your stitches broke open, you'd be taken to the hospital and stitched back up. Sure it'd technically be a set back in the healing and possibly leave a worse scar than if it did not occur, yet a cut relating to a mental issues?

Yep, there certainly are... and I'm replying to one right about now .

Originally posted by: rsd
We need an ignorance emoticon. I guess will do.

*Points above and then points to P&N*

I kind of like threads like this; I get to see people that rarely ever leave P&N posting .

Although I am a bit curious, where did the punitive amount come from?

EDIT: Spelling mistake .

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Congratulations :beer:

 

[imported_LoKe]

Congrats on the win!

 

[BoberFett]

I didn't realize you were involved in this case DonVito. Cheers to you, that guy deserves every penny if not more. I want to see Golden Valley pay dearly.

 

[AkumaX]

So you gonna buy all of ATOT :beer:s?

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: ric1287

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
It keeps reminding of how much scum police officers are.

your the type of person who i honestly hope gets robbed/mugged/attacked just to see how your moronic stance on police holds up.

You're the type of person who I honestly hope gets beaten within an inch of your life by the police and doesn't receive so much as an apology just to see how your moronic stance on being a victim of police brutality holds up.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Flatscan

I don't see how apprehending the robbery suspect clears Hixon from being an accomplice immediately and with absolute certainty.

• male robbery suspect (white)
• black van possibly associated with robbery
• Hixon, possibly associated with black van by proximity

I'm not sure that processing/releasing Hixon more expediently would have prevented the suit. Being exposed to OC (pepper spray) for an hour without decontamination (I assume this based on his "hollering" at the ER) probably didn't help, but the initial incident likely had the strongest impact. It would have been nice if someone had deconned him while he was waiting.

QFT. Also if it was indeed proven that he was sprayed post-cuffing that officer should be permanently relieved from duty. They are too costly/dangerous to have on the force.

I don't blame the guy from running when the cops approached with guns. I am not a black man, but I have talked to friends that have a fear of such things. It's better to run and live, perhaps beat up than to stand around and be possibly killed ... you don't get a do-over.

Unfortunately, I don't know the whole story and I don't want to read it all. Provided the officers did exactly what they should have and it was merely a case of mistaken identity...I don't feel it's worth over a half million dollars (with a huge chunk of that landing in the firm's pocket). Lawyers do a great service, but as a whole they did a terrible one pushing these blockbuster payoffs higher and higher.

 

[brxndxn]

The man deserves every goddamn bit of the money he won.. and moreso.

I'm white and I'm terrified of the force I've seen cops use.. This guy had every right to be terrified.

My friend got arrested once and the cop told him to get on his stomach on the ground.. then the cop put his knee into my friend's back.. then he told him to put his hands over his head (they were under him).. and he COULD NOT because the cop was pushing down with his knee so hard my friend couldn't move his arms..

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
The man deserves every goddamn bit of the money he won.. and moreso.

I would agree with you if this money wasn't taxpayer's money. If it came straight from the officers involved then I'd be all for it. But since this sort of stuff probably comes from the average joes pockets, that isn't fair for joe to have to pay for it..

 

[PokerGuy]

Wow, some truly idiotic posts in this thread.

The real crux of this case (correct me if I'm wrong Don Vito) is that after the officers made a bad judgement call and arrested the wrong guy, they tried to cover their butt, concocted bogus cover stories, and still tried to pin bogus charges on mr Hixon. Had they simply done what was needed to restrain him, then found out he wasn't the guy they were looking for, apologized and let him go/given him medical care, things would have likely turned out very very differently. The jury awarded significant punitive damages -- those are awards meant to punish, not just to repay the victim for an injury.

The disturbing part is not a judgement made in the heat of the moment by an officer under stress. I think everyone could agree errors can be made in the heat of the moment and that is understandable. It's the unwillingness to recognize and correct a mistake, a concerted effort to cover up the mistake and further victimize Mr. Hixon after the initial incident that is disturbing.

To you folks questioning how someone can suffer from PTSD after such a 'minor' incident. People are affected differently by stressful events. If all the medical pro's agree he is suffering from PTSD, who the heck are we to determine that he's not?

 

[j00fek]

glad to see more faceless pigs get the justice they seem to hold up while patrolling our streets

 

[clamum]

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
Wow, some truly idiotic posts in this thread.

The real crux of this case (correct me if I'm wrong Don Vito) is that after the officers made a bad judgement call and arrested the wrong guy, they tried to cover their butt, concocted bogus cover stories, and still tried to pin bogus charges on mr Hixon. Had they simply done what was needed to restrain him, then found out he wasn't the guy they were looking for, apologized and let him go/given him medical care, things would have likely turned out very very differently. The jury awarded significant punitive damages -- those are awards meant to punish, not just to repay the victim for an injury.

The disturbing part is not a judgement made in the heat of the moment by an officer under stress. I think everyone could agree errors can be made in the heat of the moment and that is understandable. It's the unwillingness to recognize and correct a mistake, a concerted effort to cover up the mistake and further victimize Mr. Hixon after the initial incident that is disturbing.

To you folks questioning how someone can suffer from PTSD after such a 'minor' incident. People are affected differently by stressful events. If all the medical pro's agree he is suffering from PTSD, who the heck are we to determine that he's not?

Nice post.

Congrats on winning DonVito. :beer:

 

[zinfamous]

Congrats to you and your client

:beer:

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
Wow, some truly idiotic posts in this thread.

The real crux of this case (correct me if I'm wrong Don Vito) is that after the officers made a bad judgement call and arrested the wrong guy, they tried to cover their butt, concocted bogus cover stories, and still tried to pin bogus charges on mr Hixon. Had they simply done what was needed to restrain him, then found out he wasn't the guy they were looking for, apologized and let him go/given him medical care, things would have likely turned out very very differently. The jury awarded significant punitive damages -- those are awards meant to punish, not just to repay the victim for an injury.

The disturbing part is not a judgement made in the heat of the moment by an officer under stress. I think everyone could agree errors can be made in the heat of the moment and that is understandable. It's the unwillingness to recognize and correct a mistake, a concerted effort to cover up the mistake and further victimize Mr. Hixon after the initial incident that is disturbing.

To you folks questioning how someone can suffer from PTSD after such a 'minor' incident. People are affected differently by stressful events. If all the medical pro's agree he is suffering from PTSD, who the heck are we to determine that he's not?

they are atot geniuses that know more than all the experts put together.

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: brxndxn
The man deserves every goddamn bit of the money he won.. and moreso.

I would agree with you if this money wasn't taxpayer's money. If it came straight from the officers involved then I'd be all for it. But since this sort of stuff probably comes from the average joes pockets, that isn't fair for joe to have to pay for it..

Maybe average Joe's should start paying attention to who they're voting for that keeps abusive people carrying guns on the street. It doesn't seem to phase the average Joe until their taxes go up.

 

[sygyzy]

Congratulations. I can't believe what hardasses the city, officers, judge, chief of police, and DA are being about this. Even after getting the smackdown, they are still asserting they were right.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: rpkelly

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

With all due respect, you don't know what you're talking about. No fewer than four psychiatrists and psychologists, including one hired by the defense attorneys in this case, have agreed he is suffering from severe, chronic PTSD. The defense psychiatrist also gave him an MMPI with Validity Indicator Profile, specifically to detect faking or exaggerating, and found his complaints were totally valid.

All right fine, so your client has a tender, fragile psyche. Do you know why I didn't know what I was talking about? Because you didn't bother to mention any of that in your post.

If your client is really that brittle then I guess I can't fault him too much for keeping the $. Still, I hope he does something more worthwhile with it then take a few dozen trips to the Virgin islands or something.

You don't know what you're talking about because every post you've made in this thread is full of assumptions and generalizations.

Congrats to Mr. Hixon though.

QFT

'Grats DonVito

 

[Acanthus]

Fantastic conclusion to this case.

Im not a cop hater, my best friends dad, who im friends with, is a detective.

This case was very over the top seeing as the guy didnt even meet the description that the cops were looking for.

 

[maziwanka]

out of curiosity, did you investigate whether the cop could have been denied his qualified immunity?

 

[teddyv]

The (huge) punitive award sure shows that the jury, who saw all the evidence and heard all the testimony, didn't believe any of the officers' story. Nice win.

Too bad, as always, that the body who investigates police misconduct (aka the police themselves) have chosen to completely ignore the findings of the Jury... ("The officers involved are "not being investigated or disciplined for any policy violations," the chief said. "They are active contributing members of the department yesterday and they will be tomorrow.")

 

[yllus]

Congratulations! A couple of notes to add.

One, I think your method of polling people on the Internet for their opinions on a case is one you should continue. As long as you discount some of the nuts, it's like a practice jury you don't have to pay for. If I was your client I would be all for polling the largest swath of people possible to get their input on the case and through that, possibly come up with avenues of attack that you missed on the first go around.

Two, the amount of reward sounds utterly justified to me. I think a lot of people forget one of the first things we learn in civics class in school: With its sentences and awards, the justice system's purpose is to not only to assign a proper amount of compensation but to also deter future offences in the same vein. I would think that the Golden Valley police force will take a long, thorough look at its staff and practices to ensure that such a massive chunk of change isn't extracted from their coffers again.

 

[bctbct]

Who pays the verdict is irrelevent, it does point out that the people elected or appointed to leadership have a greater responsibility to do their job though.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: KK
based on what I briefly read, he should prevail. As for the award he should get money directly from the officers involved. I don't think it's fair for the taxpayers to shell out moneys for what a few idiot cops do.

They wer employed by the city....they ruined another mans life while in the employment of the city= tax payers paying. Just like the tax payers pay there salaries!!

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: DonVito
I'm very happy with our verdict - it was actually the largest punitive-damages award against a police officer in the history of the state. Total award with statutory attorney's fees is in the neighborhood of $1.1M.

I don't appreciate the negative commentary by some people here - Al was really devastated by this, and I can guarantee you this case has never been about money for him. The bottom line is that he was brutalized without cause, and the police not only lied about it but cooked up an entire cover story about knowing about a black male before arriving at the station (not to mention leaving him in handcuffs for more than an hour and maliciously and falsely charging him with obstruction of legal process with force). Al is a pillar of the community who was wronged without cause. This kind of verdict is the ONLY way the police can be held accountable. I am proud of this verdict and proud to represent Al Hixon.

IMHO firing those involved and preventing them from ever being in law enforcement would be the better way to go. It's always about the money in these cases. That's just BS people say to make is sound like they wanted to do the right thing. People want payday. They really don't care if the situations are fixed most of the time.

Something like a company dumping toxic wastes and causing masses to die and be maimed is something that's a real lawsuit worth major damages against a company.

Cash rewards mostly pay the legal team...I think the lawsuits of our nation is what's really screwing it up.

The police department did not cause this injury, the cops did. The man was not permanently injured in any way. If anything he should have sued the cops themselves.

So now the police department will be in a worse position to hire better cops.

I really dislike most cops. For whatever reason they have pinned crap on me that I had nothing to do with. The most sensational was being stopped outside CitiBank, Palm Beach with my wife only to have Joe Officer draw his weapon and over his intercom order us both back into the car.

Final ticket I got in front of about 50 people who now came to watch was just a code on it. I recieved no envelope where to mail the ticket either. I never got back my insurance card (second time that happened...the other time the cop held both my license and insurance card only to throw them out his window about 100 yards down the road).

I finally tracked down who to contact and told the head officer about the situation. It wasn't the first time this hot head pulled something like this...his usual stopping point was outside the elementary school (which with kids around is a stupid place to do so). There had been a ton of complaints and they were investigating him already. Anyway the code on the ticket was for tint too dark. The guy asked if my tint was too dark or was I given a bogus ticket on top of this all. I admitted it was too dark. Fine was $50. Technically I had a lawsuit. I am not going to bend over taxpayers though. I filed my complaint and as last I heard the guy was dismissed from the police department there. I am sure he'd do well as the sheriff in some podunk town.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
Oh please. Anyone who's seen me post here knows I'm about as down on cops in general as anyone on ATOT (and that's saying something) but this guy's claims are ridiculous. Coughing up mucus and blood from being pepper sprayed? Sure, maybe. Withdrawing from family and friends because he has full-blown PTSD because a cop knocked him around a little? Please. This guy said whatever he needed to to win a huge award. End of story, it's the American Way.

If this "isn't about the money" then I'd love to see this guy donate half the money to some charitable organization. Pro athletes, politicians, everyone always says it's not about the money. They're all full of shit.

Well duh, it's a court case. You (or rather, your lawyer) are going to exaggerate, because if you tell the honest truth, the other guys will downplay it until it seems like a stroll through the park. I'm not arguing that the guy's experience was exactly what he described, but I can certainly understand a certain amount of physical and mental trauma.

As for the money, it's probably primarily about getting the guys who got you, and the money is a secondary issue. Of course the money's a consideration...but asking whether they would donate it to charity is a very bad litmus test. Donating it to charity won't erase the experience. Asking whether he would trade his settlement check in exchange for the firing of the cops who beat him and more oversight at the police department would give you a better idea of where his heart lies. If he's happy enough with the check, then it was, indeed, about the money.

Similarly, in wrongful death cases, imagine a scenario where they COULD resurrect the person who died. But you would have to give up your entire settlement. Do you really think no one would take that offer? It's the ones who say "well, we never really liked Uncle Frank anyway" that are all about the money.

Agentbolt's point was exactly what you are saying. Blow smoke up the jury's ass, not our's