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A Milwaukee Common Council commission on Monday proposed in a civil rights lawsuit alleging police continued to kick and punch a man after he was subdued while he suffered a mental health episode. supported the proposed $175,000 settlement.
A federal lawsuit filed by Demetrious Lowe, 30, in 2021 names nine police officers as defendants who accused them of using excessive force or failing to stop their colleagues from harming him. I claim.
A video of the violent arrest on May 2, 2018 went viral on social media. The encounter ended with Law and four police officers going to the hospital for injuries, suspensions, officers’ administrative duty orders, and internal affairs investigations, the Journal Sentinel previously reported.
Lowe’s attorney, Julius Andriussis, told the Journal Sentinel on Monday that the proposed settlement was fair and that his clients would feel that his injuries were substantiated and compensated by the settlement. rice field.
Over the years, the city has paid millions of dollars to settle claims for police misconduct. In the last year alone, city officials have paid $450,000 for his settlement with a bystander who was shot by a Milwaukee police officer in September 2019, and for an unarmed man who was permanently injured when police shot him in 2017. Approved his $650,000 settlement with the man.
Amount includes attorney fees
The $175,000 settlement includes attorney fees and costs, according to a letter from city attorney Tearman Spencer to the city council.
“Due to the unpredictability of litigation, the City’s risk of exposure to compensatory and punitive damages, and additional attorney fees and expenses, we recommend that this matter be settled at that amount,” Spencer said. increase.
The Commission recommended settlement with one objection from Ald. No argument with Michael Murphy.
The council plans to take up the proposed settlement at its February 7 meeting.
Lawsuit Alleges Fourth Amendment, 14th Amendment Rights Violated
According to the complaint filed in the case, Lowe’s family had made medical appointments for him after noticing changes in his behavior about a week before the police encounter.
He believed that someone had secretly given him the drug, and that night he experienced a “full-blown psychological episode” in which he was unable to comprehend his actions.
Police responding to multiple calls to West Medford Avenue said someone kicked the door and a woman screamed for help, according to city court records.
Three police officers approached Lowe and ordered him to stop trying to arrest him, but he walked away from them. When he did, he was upset.
He then ran, followed by a cop. When they caught up, one hit him with an extendable baton, causing Lowe to punch the officer in the face and slam him to the ground.
Six other officers then arrived and helped subdue him. One officer used a taser while the rest were able to bring Lowe to the ground, court records say.
Lowe’s complaint states that when officers “intentionally and/or recklessly” kicked, batoned, or punched him, he no longer resisted or threatened.
A police officer’s use of force is “objectively unreasonable and punitive after the plaintiff has ceased resistance, and a reasonable police officer would have been unreasonable after the plaintiff became immobile and/or failed to display continued resistance.” He would not have continued to use physical force after he was killed,” the amended complaint states.
In court documents responding to the complaint, the city denied that officers continued to use force after Lowe stopped moving or resisting.
Lowe’s lawsuit alleges that police violated his Fourth Amendment right not to be subjected to undue force and his Fourteenth Amendment right to bodily integrity.
All but one of the nine police officers named as defendants worked at the police station, according to city records.
Michael Mattioli resigned in September 2020, months after being charged with the off-duty death of Joel Acevedo at Mattioli’s home earlier that year. A trial is scheduled for June.
Other named defendants are Donald Gaglione Jr., Brandon Rutherford, Peter Hauser, Daniel Schuk, Daniel Pierce, Bradley Nickel, Robert Getchjian, and Andrew L. Langer.
In a separate lawsuit resulting from an encounter with police, Lowe was charged with three felonies of battery to law enforcement officers.
According to court records, he was found not guilty because of a mental illness or defect. That meant he was convicted of committing the crimes he was charged with, but was not legally responsible because of his mental state, court records say.
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