Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
My daughter was driving home from a Halloween birthday party held at our home with our family. She drove home that night on a two lane road which leads to her house. She was pulled over by an officer. When the officer approached her car window he asked her for her license which she gave him. She asked the officer "what am I being stopped for" The officers response was to demand she get out of the car, she again reinterated "what am I being stopped for" The office then opened the driver door and pulled by daughter out of her car and pulled her over to the hood of the car and made her bend over the hood with her hands behind her back and handcuffed her. The officer then pulled her backward and walked her over to the police vehicle and sat her in the back seat of the car.
The officer then began a search of the car looking for something incriminating. The officer found a half filled bottle of Tejava brand tea and then forced the bottle in front of my daughter and demanded she tell him what this was. Her response "It's Fucking Tea". The officer then demanded that she take a breathalizer test which she felt compelled to do fearing for her safety. She took the breathalizer and it indicated no alcohol in her system. The officer demanded that she "walk a strait line" She responded "Why the hell would I do that if my breathalizer test was 0" The officer then proceeded to quit his interrogation and took my daughter out of the police car, uncuffed her and then let her go free.
We are dealing with:
False Arrest
Assualt and Battery
Lack of Probable Cause
Illegal search and seizure
Conduct unbecoming an officer of the law
Possible sexual assualt in how this was handled.
My question is there an average or common settlement amount for damages between an abusive officer and a citizen in response to a routine traffic stop which has gone bad. Something that I could quote as an example court case cite? That I may look and see how this was approached.
Would you be willing to provide the case cite?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Each case varies as to what might be its value, because of various factors. So no one could possibly respond to your question. Your daughter needs to go to an attorney who handles cases against police officers [in Bay Area, John Buriss, Jim Chanin handle a large number of such cases] to get a very rough estlimate of what such a case might be worth. All such tort claims against a public entity must have a claim filed within 180 days of the incident or tehy may be barred.
I used to defend police officer in the City of Oakland. Based upon that and my other general experiences, including about 3 years of representing plaintiffs as to bodily injury cases, I doubt you have recited the full facts of the case or your daughter has told you everything about what occured, especially any "wrong" behavior by her. People always see thngs in the best light for themselves. Your daughter is the one who has to pursue this matter, not you.
There are rogue cops who might do something similar to what your daughter alleges, but the vast majority of police officers would not and a jury would not believe they had. Why would a cop pull your daughter over for no reason at all? There are more than enough drivers violating the speed and other traffic laws for them to pull over than to go after someone who is driving legally. Why would he blow up at her asking what was the reasons for the stop were; if he was a rogue cop he would either ignore the questions or tell her to shut up. Why did he never look at his car police computer or call in to the Deaprtment to find out if there were any wants or warrents for her and if the car was stolen. Why did he not ask for her car registration? Why no pat down for drugs or weapons? Why did he not plant phoney evidence of a crime, write her up for some traffic violation [her word against his as to whether it occured]? As a parent, you of course want to believe your children, but do you see all the holes in your daughter's version of what occurred?
I generally agree with Mr. Shers. While it does sound like the officer may have been out of line, I also think you are blowing the incident out of proportion. Even if your daughter's version of events is the unvarnished truth, do you seriously think this might qualify as a sexual assault? I suggest taking a deep breath and looking at the situation again in light of Mr. Shers' thoughtful analysis.
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