Portland cops unveil Netflix defense
Here's a wild case -- a guy who was punished for suspected vandalism with a good, old-fashioned Tasing. Daniel Halsted has just won another in a long string of judgments against Portland police for brutality, this one for $206,000. But the craziest part of the case was the city's line of attack on the victim's credibility in court:
[Deputy City Attorney James] Rice tried to discredit Halsted, asking him about his collection of Kung Fu movies, and suggested during his closing argument that Halsted kept resisting because he was likely intoxicated.
Asked him about his collection of Kung Fu movies? Wow. Just wow.
| Posted at 8:48 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (4)
That wasn't a promising line of inquiry, considering that the beaten lad is a movie buff and employee at the Hollywood Theater.
Posted by Sal | March 13, 2012 10:16 PM
He's lucky they didn't kill him. James Chasse received the death penalty for running away from Portland police over suspicion of public urination.
Posted by Jack Bog | March 13, 2012 10:25 PM
I see the city is still using in-house counsel to defend these types of cases. Hope they have an understanding with their new insurance carrier about reimbursement for in-house services.
The Kung Fu movie reference was hilarious. I can see why the city's previous carrier didn't want to pay for such a shoddy defense, if this any indication of the norm.
Posted by Ex-bartender | March 13, 2012 10:36 PM
We live in a city where prevarication has become the norm among elected and appointed city officials and their subordinates. Ms Bernstein's spare but informative piece may well contribute to the awareness that this is not acceptable to the citizens of this city.
But perhaps Portland is not alone in this. Consider an event in Boston that was settled before trial:
"The city of Boston has agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a man who says a police officer tackled him and placed him in a choke in 2009, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to work."
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/03/14/boston_pays_14m_to_settle_suit_against_officer_1331735293/
"O'Brien says Williams knocked him to the ground while he was videotaping another police officer with a cellphone during a traffic stop. O'Brien tells The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/zdbrDK) that he lives with debilitating dizziness and headaches.
Williams' lawyer says his client contends he did nothing wrong and there is no admission of liability in the settlement."
Posted by Gardiner Menefree | March 14, 2012 10:57 AM