Posts in Category ‘Police Misconduct’

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Justice Department Finds that Louisville Police Violated Protesters’ Constitutional Rights

On March 8, the U.S. Department of Justice released a damning report detailing routine constitutional violations by the Louisville Metro Police Department (“LMPD”). Along with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU of Kentucky, ECBAWM sued Louisville in 2020, alleging that LMPD’s indiscriminate use of tear gas and other military-grade weapons against peaceful protesters violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights. The class-action lawsuit, brought by several named plaintiffs who were subjected to unnecessary force, seeks to bar LMPD from using such weapons at future protests.

Among many other areas of misconduct, DOJ investigated LMPD’s response to the summer 2020 protests following the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. The report found that LMPD had “indiscriminately used force” against peaceful and law-abiding protesters, and used “riot sticks, less-lethal munitions, [and] chemical agents against protesters who did no more than passively resist or disperse more slowly than officers desired.”

The DOJ report also confirms another of the primary claims in the ECBAWM lawsuit against LMPD: “By using force against peaceful protesters without individualized and adequate justifications, LMPD repeatedly retaliated against speech, in violation of the First Amendment.” Attorney General Merrick Garland described some of LMPD’s conduct as “unacceptable” and “heartbreaking.”

“We applaud the Justice Department’s extensive investigation into the LMPD,” said ECBAWM Partner, Sam Shapiro. “Louisville must commit to stop using indiscriminate, crowd-control weaponry that subjects peaceful protestors to unconstitutional uses of force.”

ECBAWM attorneys Earl Ward, Andrew Wilson, Sam Shapiro, and Andrew Jondahl represent the protesters in the class action lawsuit.

Press
“Justice Dept. Finds Pattern of Discriminatory Policing in Louisville,” New York Times
“Louisville police engaged in pattern of misconduct, Justice Dept. finds,” Washington Post
“DOJ issues scathing rebuke of Louisville police in report launched after Breonna Taylor killing,” CNN
“Louisville Police Department practices, violated Constitution, DOJ finds,” Politico
Legal Defense Fund press release
ACLU Kentucky press release

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ECBAWM and Romano & Kuan Win Federal Jury Trial for Client Rendered Quadriplegic by NYPD Officer’s Assault

On April 13, 2022, after a four-day trial, an eight-person jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York returned a unanimous verdict finding that the Defendant NYPD Officer Luis Linares assaulted and committed battery against our client Eliezer Lopez when he pushed Mr. Lopez over a railing in the Crotona Park neighborhood of the Bronx in December of 2015. After Officer Linares’s push, Mr. Lopez fell 15 feet and landed on the back of his head, rendering him permanently paralyzed from the neck down. Mr. Lopez died in May 2019 after spending the last three-and-a-half years of his life confined to a hospital bed as a result of Officer Linares’s assault.

At the trial, the jury rejected Officer Linares’s claims that Mr. Lopez jumped over the railing and that he never touched Mr. Lopez. ECBAWM and co-counsel Romano & Kuan marshaled testimony from an expert witness who testified that the nature of Mr. Lopez’s injuries was inconsistent with Officer Linares’s testimony, along with testimony from Mr. Lopez himself and an eyewitness who contradicted Officer Linares’s account. The attorneys also uncovered key discrepancies between Officer Linares’s testimony and that of his fellow officers when questioning them on the stand.

ECBAWM attorneys Earl Ward and Max Selver, together with Julia Kuan of Romano & Kuan, represent the Plaintiff Suhail Laureano, Eliezer Lopez’s wife, who is proceeding as a representative of his Estate. Following the jury’s verdict that Officer Linares committed assault and battery, the parties are preparing for a second jury trial to determine the amount of damages.

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ECBAWM Defeats Detroit Police Officers’ Attempt to Avoid Trial in Wrongful Conviction Case

In a December 28, 2021 decision, United States District Judge Paul D. Borman rejected a motion for summary judgment filed by four Detroit Police Department (“DPD”) officers seeking to drastically narrow the scope of a lawsuit brought by Kendrick Scott, an innocent man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent nearly two decades in prison as a result of the DPD officers’ egregious misconduct.

The Court ruled that Mr. Scott’s case will proceed against all four DPD officers and held that each of Mr. Scott’s federal civil rights claims must be decided at a jury trial. Specifically, the Court found that, in light of the evidence presented by ECBAWM, a jury must decide whether the DPD officers violated Mr. Scott’s constitutional rights by suppressing exculpatory evidence and forcing witnesses to testify falsely.

“Mr. Scott endured almost 20 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. We look forward to showing all the evidence of this injustice to the jury at trial,” said ECBAWM partner Zoe Salzman.

“The Court’s decision makes clear that police officers who threaten witnesses and suppress exculpatory evidence—and do so without any regard for the rights and liberty of an innocent man—cannot escape liability on a technicality,” said ECBAWM attorney Nick Bourland. “Mr. Scott deserves to present his case to a jury and this victory guarantees that he will have his day in court.”

ECBAWM attorneys Zoe Salzman and Nick Bourland represent Mr. Scott.

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ECBAWM Files Excessive Force Lawsuit on Behalf of Man Paralyzed by NYPD Officers

On June 2, 2021, ECBAWM filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Peyman Bahadoran, a former Wall Street trader who is now paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by NYPD officers during a non-violent confrontation. As detailed in the complaint, Mr. Bahadoran—who suffers from bipolar disorder—experienced a manic episode on June 4, 2020 outside a Manhattan deli after days of seeing violence between police and Black Lives Matter protesters outside his home near Union Square. NYPD officers on the scene did not even attempt to use non-lethal techniques to subdue Mr. Bahadoran. Instead, two NYPD officers shot Mr. Bahadoran in the spine and left arm. He was unarmed and non-violent at the time the officers shot him. He is now paralyzed and unable to control any body function below his waist.

Security and body camera footage of the shooting have been widely circulated in the news media and confirm that the officers’ force was excessive. “The body camera footage shows clearly that Mr. Bahadoran was unarmed when shot,” said Mr. Bahadoran’s lawyer Earl Ward. “It further disproves the claim by the department that he was ‘reaching’ and ‘lunging.’ He posed no deadly risk and now there’s a bullet lodged in his spine and he may never walk again.”

ECBAWM’s Earl Ward, Jonathan Abady, and Marissa Benavides represent Mr. Bahadoran in the suit.

Read the filed complaint

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ECBAWM Files Civil Rights Lawsuit Against Ocoee and Windermere (FL) Police

Jean Samuel Celestin died unnecessarily at the hands of Florida police officers on April 11, 2019. Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Ocoee (FL), the town of Windermere (FL), four Ocoee Police Department (“OPD”) officers, and one Windermere Police Department (“WPD”) officer, on behalf of Mr. Celestin’s family. The suit, filed along with co-counsel King & Markman, P.A., alleges that Mr. Celestin was deprived of his constitutional rights when the officers physically restrained to him to the point that he lost consciousness and died. Mr. Celestin’s family seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

On April 11, 2019, Mr. Celestin’s mother and sister called 911 to ask for assistance because Mr. Celestin was in a mental health crisis and was expressing delusional thoughts. The road patrol officers, violating standard procedures for interacting with people in distress, treated Mr. Celestin as a dangerous criminal, rather than a mental health patient in need of emergency treatment. Though Crisis Intervention Teams have existed in Ocoee for over 20 years, in order to reduce the risk of serious injury or death during an emergency interaction between persons with mental illness and police officers, the responding officers failed to engage such a team.

The officers also refused to handcuff Mr. Celestin when he offered his wrists in surrender, and tased him multiple times. They also restrained him with a controversial “hobble” restraint, also known as a “hogtie,” which has been known to cause death by positional asphyxia since at least 1995. OPD and WPD officers left Mr. Celestin hogtied and face-down in the grass for almost an entire minute. The coroner’s report indicates that this hogtie was a proximate cause of Mr. Celestin’s death.

“Samuel Celestin is no longer with us for one reason and one reason only: because police officers treated a sick person in need of help like a dangerous criminal who had just committed a violent felony,” said Andrew G. Celli, Jr., an ECBAWM attorney representing the plaintiff. “The failings that killed Samuel are systemic; they reflect inadequate training and the misuse of equipment; extremely poor tactical conduct by the officers—including intentional escalation of a conflict when de-escalation was called for; and an utter failure to assist a person in distress. This case will expose all of that and more.”

Along with Mr. Celli, the Celestin family is represented by ECBAWM attorneys Jonathan Abady, Earl Ward, and Andrew Jondahl, along with Jeremy Markman from King & Markman, P.A. in Orlando, FL. For additional information, see this press release and the complaint.

Press
“Family of man who died after being tased by Ocoee police discusses newly filed lawsuit,” WFTV
“Family suing Ocoee police after deadly encounter,” Fox 35 Orlando
“Police who tased Ocoee man during mental health crisis should face charges in his death, family says,” Orlando Sentinel

 

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ECBAWM Files Police Brutality Lawsuit Against NYPD Officers and the City of New York

Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP has filed a complaint in the Eastern District of New York against the City of New York and New York Police Department Officers for excessive force. The complaint alleges that plaintiff Ernesto Lopez, a respiratory therapist who was working temporarily in New York City helping COVID-19 patients amid the height of the pandemic, was violently assaulted by several NYPD officers while he was peacefully protesting racial injustice and police brutality in Brooklyn on June 3, 2020.

The complaint further alleges that during the protest, unprovoked and without warning, NYPD officers violently assaulted and indiscriminately arrested several protestors, including Mr. Lopez. Though Mr. Lopez did not pose any threat to the officers, they arrested him, struck his head with a baton, and tackled him to the ground.

Police then forcefully restrained Mr. Lopez’s hands, typing zip ties so tight that he lost feeling in his fingers. He spent the next six hours in NYPD detention, where his repeated requests for medical treatment for his head injuries were denied. Additionally, Mr. Lopez’s face mask fell off during the assault and while he was detained, police refused his request to replace his mask despite the risk of COVID-19.

“This is an egregious incident of excessive force and violence committed by the NYPD against a peaceful protestor. It is even more shocking that this assault was carried out against a medical worker who had traveled to New York to help the city and its residents during a time of dire need,” said ECBAWM partner Ilann M. Maazel. “We are confident that these officers will be held accountable for the indiscriminate and unjustified violence committed against Mr. Lopez.”

“This case has key implications for the broader issue of unwarranted violence and excessive force used by the police against civilians exercising their right to peacefully protest,” added ECBAWM attorney Scout Katovich. “We are committed to seeking justice for Mr. Lopez.”

“Though I traveled to New York with the intent to help the sickest New Yorkers at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, my experience unfortunately resulted in a shocking incident of violence at the hands of those sworn to protect the city and its residents,” said Mr. Lopez. “I’m optimistic that the resolution of this suit will bring justice and peace for myself, as well as for others who have been similarly brutalized by the police.”

Mr. Lopez is represented by ECBAWM attorneys Ilann M. Maazel and Scout Katovich.

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New York Times Publishes Letter by ECBAWM Partner Andrew Celli

On March 26, the New York Times published a Letter to the Editor authored by ECBAWM founding partner Andrew G. Celli Jr. Drawing from his extensive experience representing victims of police misconduct, Celli’s Letter, “In Service,” offers a more nuanced perspective on Maurice Chammah’s review of Rosa Brooks’s “Tangled Up in Blue” and Justin Fenton’s “We Own This City,” which implied that the police seek high-risk situations because of boredom in regular patrol work. Celli writes about his perspective on the realities of police work and calls on those in the profession to more adequately communicate their role as a public service, rather than an outlet for adventure.

Recently, Andrew Celli has contributed to cases that involved fatalities resulting from police misconduct, such as the death of Daniel Prude and Osaze Osagie.

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ECBAWM, as Independent Investigator, Releases Report on the City of Rochester’s Response to the Death of Daniel Prude

On September 16, 2020, the Rochester City Council, by Ordinance No. 2020-283, appointed our law firm, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, LLP (“ECBAWM”), to serve as Special Counsel Investigator to investigate the City’s response to the arrest and death of Daniel Prude. On March 12, 2021, we released our final Report of the Investigation.

The Report reflects six months’ worth of work by ECBAWM lawyers and staff; it is over 50 pages in length, and it contains dozens of factual findings, as well as an analysis of the facts as found. No brief public statement can summarize those findings, that analysis, or the Report as a whole. We urge any interested person to take the time to read the Report in full. That said, when our firm was appointed, we committed that our work would answer the fundamental question that many people in the Rochester community were urgently asking, and that many continue to demand an answer to today:

Did officials of City government suppress information about the arrest and death of Daniel Prude between March 23, 2020, when the arrest occurred, and September 2, 2020, when the Prude family publicly released body-worn camera footage of the incident?
The straightforward answer is yes. The Investigation revealed no explanation that fully accounts for the more than four-month delay between the death of an unarmed man at the hands of Rochester police, and public disclosure of the facts and circumstances under which the death occurred — other than a decision or series of decisions not to make such disclosure.
The Investigation uncovered a great deal of evidence and reached specific, sometimes nuanced, conclusions. Understanding that evidence and those conclusions require consideration of the full Report, with time and attention to detail.

The Investigation was conducted by ECBAWM attorneys Andrew G. Celli, Jr.,  Katherine Rosenfeld, and Scout Katovich; and was supported by paralegals Kathryn Ravey and Jocelyn Rodriguez.

The supporting documentation for this report was made public on a separate webpage While this webpage is no longer available, these supporting documents can be provided upon request. 

Media coverage of this Report has been reported by the Associated Press, the Democrat & Chronicle, and NBC New York.

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ECABWM Partner Zoe Salzman Co-Authors Washington Post Op-Ed Calling for Justice for Tamir Rice Under Biden Administration

Today the Washington Post published an opinion piece co-authored by ECBAWM partner Zoe Salzman and Billy Joe Mills, founding partner of FirmEquity LLC. Both firms represent the family of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was brutally shot and killed by Cleveland police officers in 2014. In “Tamir Rice deserves justice. The Biden administration could finally deliver it,” Salzman and Mills explain why one of the top priorities for the Justice Department under the Biden administration should be the reopening of the case against the police officers who are responsible for Tamir’s death.

Noting that career DOJ attorneys had twice sought to convene a federal grand jury to bring charges against Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann, the authors write, “[B]oth times those requests were stymied by Trump administration political appointees at the Justice Department. They sat on the requests for years, though the department typically rubber-stamps such requests in weeks. … [T]hey opted to run out the clock on the relevant statutes of limitations, which allowed them to silently kill the investigation without formally ending it.” After a whistleblower complaint that included these and other stalling tactics by the Justice Department, the investigation was formally closed without further explanation.

“The Justice Department is supposed to uphold the rule of law without yielding to the bruising tide of politics,” write Salzman and Mills. “We call on the Biden administration’s incoming attorney general, Merrick Garland, who has professed his commitment to the rule of law, to reopen the investigation into the killing of Tamir Rice.”

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ECBAWM Clients Sue State College, PA Police for Fatal Shooting

Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Osaze Osagie’s family against the Borough of State College as well as ten State College Police Department (“SCPD”) officers. The complaint addresses the systemic failures that resulted in a State College police officer fatally shooting 29-year-old Osaze Osagie, who was suffering a mental health crisis at the time, on March 20, 2019.

Osaze Osagie’s family hopes to expose the policies and practices that allowed for such an injustice to occur. In a statement released by their legal team, they elaborate, “The Osagie family files this case today with deep resolve, but also with a heavy heart. They are determined to seek justice for their beloved son, which includes holding the Borough and SCPD accountable for their systemic failings in creating and maintaining a broken policing system that caused his untimely death.” The family also seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

ECBAWM attorneys Andrew G. Celli, Jr., Earl S. Ward, and David Berman represent the plaintiffs, alongside The Law Office of Andrew Shubin and Kathleen Yurchak from Steinbacher, Goodall, and Yurchak.

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