LAS VEGAS (CN) - Henderson police arrested a family for refusing to
let officers use their homes as lookouts for a domestic violence
investigation of their neighbors, the family claims in court.
Anthony
Mitchell and his parents Michael and Linda Mitchell sued the City of
Henderson, its Police Chief Jutta Chambers, Officers Garret Poiner,
Ronald Feola, Ramona Walls, Angela Walker, and Christopher Worley, and
City of North Las Vegas and its Police Chief Joseph Chronister, in
Federal Court.
Henderson, pop. 257,000, is a suburb of Las Vegas.
The
Mitchell family's claim includes Third Amendment violations, a rare
claim in the United States. The Third Amendment prohibits quartering
soldiers in citizens' homes in times of peace without the consent of the
owner.
"On the morning of July 10th, 2011, officers from the
Henderson Police Department responded to a domestic violence call at a
neighbor's residence," the Mitchells say in the complaint.
......
Police took Anthony and Michael Mitchell to jail and booked them for
obstructing an officer. They were jailed for at least nine hours before
they bailed out, they say in the complaint. All criminals charged were
dismissed with prejudice. They claim the defendants filed the baseless
criminal charges "to provide cover for defendants' wrongful actions, to
frustrate and impede plaintiffs' ability to seek relief for those
actions, and to further intimidate and retaliate against plaintiffs."
None of the officers were ever subjected to official discipline or even inquiry, the complaint states.
The
Mitchells seek punitive damages for violations of the third, fourth and
14th Amendments, assault and battery, conspiracy, defamation, abuse of
process, malicious prosecution, negligence and emotional distress.
They are represented by Benjamin C. Durham, with Cofer, Geller & Durham, in Las Vegas.
READ IT ALL HERE
h/t to reader Walker
I hope the officers, their superiors, a handful of judges, and half the city council are fired over that one.
ReplyDeleteSome things are so objectionable, you have to roll a lot of heads to get justice.
I hope they never have to worry about working again. Sue Las Vegas then start working down hill until they all hve something in the pot!!!
ReplyDeleteYep, between TJIC and this, it IS becoming JBT time... until somebody has enough, and then standby!
ReplyDeleteI'll leave te same comment here I left at Wirecutter's blog:
ReplyDeleteIf all of that is true, then all I can say is I know why the term pig was applied to police officers. Those are some of the most troubling allegations I have seen regarding police abuse of power in this country. If it winds up that the cops are convicted, I hope they go to jail for a good long time. Of course, there are always at least two sides to every story, so I will not pass judgment and leave it up to the courts. I will not be surprised though if they are convicted as it sounds like it could be something police might do in today’s fucked up times.
I have got to say that in 32 years as an LEO, I prided myself on two things – arresting a lot of scum (illegal aliens and smugglers for the most part with a terrorist or pedophile thrown in now and then) and never violating any of their rights when doing it.
All the best,
GB
We need to start over from scratch...not much in our country to be proud of anymore.
ReplyDeleteAlso as a retired LEO, I find this deeply disturbing. Hopefully the courts will hash this out in s disparate manner, but I fear that a settlement will be reached before this happens and the officers involved will go unpunished. If I were the City's attorney, I would be crapping my pants over this one.
ReplyDeleteThe mayor of Henderson can be contacted here.
http://andyhafen.com/mayor/contact