Case details
Plaintiffs bitten by K-9s were evading police, defense argued
SUMMARY
$0
Amount
Verdict-Defendant
Result type
Not present
Ruling
KEYWORDS
back, elbow, emotional distress, face, lower back, mental, nerve damage, neurological, neuropathy, nose, psychological
FACTS
Between 2010 and 2011, plaintiffs VonTre Knight, Robert Price, Ricky Sims, Tommy Martinez, Todd Jamison, Jerry Tolliver, Shylow Therman, Kevin Stern and Jason Blevins were bitten by K-9s trained and handled by Sacramento City Police Officers Aaron Thompson, John Azevedo and/or Gary Dahl. Knight, Price, Sims, Martinez, Jamison, Tolliver, Therman, Stern and Blevins sued Thompson; Azevedo; Dahl; and the officers’ employer the City of Sacramento Police Department. The bitten individuals alleged that the dog handlers violated their civil rights under 42 US § 1983 and violated their Fourth Amendment rights. They also claimed that the dog handlers’ threats and violence constituted violations of the Bane Act. The further claimed that the dog handlers’ actions constituted negligence, deliberate indifference, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and assault and battery. In addition, the bitten individuals claimed that the police department was negligent in the training and supervision of the K-9 unit and that it was deliberately indifferent to the actions of the K-9 unit. Specifically, Knight was bitten on July 12, 2010; Price was bitten on Aug.11, 2010; Sims was bitten on March 11, 2010; Martinez was bitten on Jan. 12, 2011; Jamison was bitten on May 10, 2011; Tolliver was bitten on May 17, 2011; Therman was bitten on Dec. 24, 2010; Stern was bitten on Dec. 24, 2010; and Blevins was bitten on May 15, 2011. They claimed they were all victims of gratuitous bites from the police department’s K-9s. Stern was ultimately removed from the case. Defense counsel contended that all of the plaintiffs were actively evading police at the time they were bitten by police K-9s and that all of the plaintiffs were given opportunities to surrender themselves prior to getting bitten, but that none of the plaintiffs did so. Counsel also contended that the deployment of the police K-9 in each of the eight incidents was within the policy of the Sacramento Police Department., Knight was bitten on his leg and his right hip. Price was bitten on his leg, face and arm. He claimed he suffers from nerve damage and permanent scars. Sims was bitten on his right leg, right elbow, right side, right lower back, and upper right thigh. He was taken to Sutter Medical Center, in Sacramento, and received 13 stitches in his leg. He also sought treatment for his other . However, Sims claimed he is left with scars. Martinez, Jamison, Tolliver, Therman, Stern (who was let out of the case), and Blevins also sustained bite-mark in unspecified locations. The plaintiffs also each claimed they suffered emotional distress from their respective incidents.
COURT
United States District Court, Eastern District, Sacramento, CA
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INJURIES:
- anxiety
- brain
- brain damage
- brain injury
- cognition
- depression
- epidural
- extradural hematoma
- face
- facial bone
- fracture
- head
- headaches
- hearing
- impairment
- insomnia
- loss of
- mental
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- psychological
- scapula
- sensory
- shoulder
- skull
- speech
- subdural hematoma
- tinnitus
- traumatic brain injury
- vision
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