Congratulations to Manning Kass Founding Partner Eugene P. Ramirez and Senior Counsel Darin L. Wessel, and Partner Scott Wm. Davenport, on obtaining a Motion for Summary Judgment for our clients, Riverside County and individual deputies, in a civil rights action involving two separate incidents. The ruling dismissing all claims arose out of a lawsuit by the plaintiff in the US District Court for the Central District of California.
The suit claimed two distinct excessive force incidents. On August 27, 2020, officers responded to a dispatch call of an unknown man refusing to leave someone’s house and possibly high on drugs. The second incident occurred on March 1, 2021 when the plaintiff failed to heed an officer’s traffic stop which led to a chase into an open desert and the plaintiff becoming physically combative toward officers.
The resulting case accused officers of Unreasonable Force, Denial of Medical Care, False Arrest, Monell claims, Bane Act violations, and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress.
Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Wessel established that the physical altercation between the plaintiff and officers was based on the plaintiff’s active resistance toward arrest. During each incident plaintiff admitted suffering drug-induced paranoia. During each incident, force used by the deputies was necessary to prevent harm to themselves and plaintiff. In both incidents, plaintiff received immediate medical care upon arrest. Furthermore, there was no Monell claim as the plaintiff could not name one instance of unlawful practices beyond his own arrests.
After reviewing the briefing and evidence, United States District Court Judge Percy Anderson ultimately ruled in our clients’ favor and dismissed all remaining claims. Congratulations to our clients and Mr. Ramirez, Mr. Wessel, and Mr. Davenport on this excellent result!