Jury vindicates Easton police in excessive force lawsuit
By Peter Hall, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
On Tuesday, a federal jury in
The verdict is a vindication both for the three officers and the police department's policy of refusing to settle in cases where its officers have done nothing wrong, attorney
"If we acted responsibly and professionally, we're going to stand behind the officers and take it to trial," he said after the verdict.
The city's tenacious defense against police brutality claims goes hand in hand with rigid training programs and an effort to reform its police department after a string of lawsuits that have cost
MacMain said that the question of Tran's credibility against that of the officers and other witnesses left the city with no choice but to take the case to trial. A court cannot grant summary judgment when there is a question of fact in dispute.
"We are not going to waste taxpayers money' on these thugs who think they can get into trouble and make accusations against our officers," Panto said after the trial.
Tran said Tuesday only that the jury had done its job. His lead attorney,
Tran, a 44-year-old Vietnamese refugee with a record of theft and burglary since 2004, sued officers
But during the city's defense, MacMain presented the testimony of two women who had called police when they saw Tran throwing a rock at the car.
During their turns on the witness stand, each of the officers flatly denied that any of them had punched Tran. Luise conceded he had held Tran's head against the roof of the car as he fought against the officers' efforts to handcuff him.
The officers and witnesses testified that Tran, who admitted having used alcohol and crack cocaine the night he was arrested, unleased a stream of profanity, threats and invitations to fight as the officers confronted him.
"He was still carrying on saying that he was going to kick officer White's ass. Those were his words," Marraccini said of Tran's behavior when Marraccini arrived on the scene.
Marraccini testified that under the department's use of force policy, the officers would also have been justified in using batons, Tasers or pepper spray as Tran resisted arrest.
Tran's lawsuit, which sought an unspecified amount of money and played out in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge
In 2007, federal jurors decided that
Between 2001 and 2005,
Tran sued police in neighboring Wilson in 2009, alleging that he was mauled by a police dog while being arrested for a burglary. Tran settled the suit in 2010 for
He was represented in both lawsuits by attorneys from the
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