Albuquerque Police Misconduct Lawsuit Results in Jury Verdict
In a case tried in Santa Fe, a young man was awarded $100,000 after a jury found that the officer used excessive force in his detention. The jury found for the defendants on claims of false arrest and unreasonable detention and awarded no punitive damages for the excessive force. The jury also found for Defendant Sheley on the state law battery claim after the district court (wrongly in my estimation) instructed the jury that a battery is actionable only if done in a rude, insolent or angry manner (criminal law standard). Albuquerque attorneys Adam Baker and Paul Kennedy represented the young man, who suffered fractures of the humerus bone (upper arm). Arendt v. Sheley, 03cv1188. The Albuquerque Tribune article follows.
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Police Dog Attack Approved on Motionless Offender
In an unpublished opinion, the Tenth Circuit affirmed a jury verdict in favor of an Albuquerque Police K-9 handler who used his dog to remove a motionless man from a car he had broken into. Gutierrez v. Hackett, 04-2104 (May 3, 2005). The plaintiff had filed suit claiming that the use of the dog to rouse him while he was sleeping in the car constituted excessive force under the Fourth Amendment. Despite the fact that the man remained motionless, the Tenth Circuit approved the jury's finding of reasonableness because Mr. Gutierrez hid his hands.
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