Charges dropped for Lisa Coppock
who was assaulted by
Portland Police Officer
Chris Humphreys in 2008
"This is about a system that is based on power and fear rather
than on dignity and respect."
Marcia Meyers, Coppock's mother
PORTLAND,
OR March 16, 2010 Lisa Coppock
was scheduled to appear in Multnomah County Court on March 16 for
misdemeanors for:
·
theft of services (a $2.50 MAX ticket),
·
disobeying an officer of the law, and
·
resisting arrest.
Instead, all
charges were dropped and the case was dismissed last Thursday. After
dozens of court appearances stretching over two years, Lisa stood her
ground. She never conceded to the system that charged her, but had no
consequences for Police Officer Chris Humphreys who in the process of
arresting Coppock, threw her to the ground
and slammed her head into the pavement. Humphreys' treatment of Coppock while arresting her for allegedly not
paying her MAX fare resulted in her being taken to the hospital for
stitches before she was taken to jail.
BACKGROUND
Lisa's case
started in April 2008 when she got on the MAX in Gresham without a ticket. She
boarded, planning to pay the appropriate officials and explain that the
ticket machine was broken. Lisa was confronted by two police officers
she explained her situation and held out her money. One of the the officers then ask her to get off the MAX. When
she asked him why she felt a huge amount of rage emanating from the
officer and she ran.
Lisa was
pursued, thrown to the ground and had her head slammed into the
pavement by that same officer. She was then arrested, taken to the
hospital, where she received stitches for her head wound and was then
taken to jail.
Later when
talking with her court-appointed attorney Coppock
found out that the officer from whom she had felt the rage and from
whom she had fled was Chris Humphreys. This is the same officer who was
involved in the death of James Chasse in 2008,the
bean bag shooting of a twelve year old girl near the MAX late last
year, and the 2003 Chaz Miller case, where
Humphreys dragged the wrong man from a truck and beat him with a baton.
Ordinarily, a
case like Coppock's would have been dropped
quickly. Instead it dragged out for nearly two years. In the week before
the case was dismissed, the charges against Coppock
were reduced from misdemeanor to citation. Officer Chris Humphreys is
now implicated in a civil lawsuit in around the death of James Chasse.
The Chaz Miller case led to an out-of-court
settlement with costs to the city totaling over $133,000.
CASE HAS LARGER
MEANING FOR THE COMMUNITY
Lisa and her
mother, Marcia Meyers, want to share Lisa's story with the community at
large. They are also working with others to improve police accountability.
This week they are joining the Albina
Ministerial Alliance in urging others to go to the City Council hearing
about changes to the Portland
police oversight division on Thursday March 18 at 2pm at City Hall,
1221 SW 4th.
"This is
not just about Lisa's case." says Meyers. "This is about
shining a light on an oppressive system that has many of us living
in fear. Lisa and I want to use what we have learned in the last two
years to help transform this system to one that is more compassionate and
humane."