Judge Suko has granted our motion to dismiss all of plaintiff’s claims against the City of Yakima and the arresting officer in this well-reasoned decision. Mr. Ford alleged that he was the subject of an unlawful traffic stop, an unreasonable seizure of his person, and an illegal search of his vehicle. He also alleged that the officers arrested him in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment right to freedom of speech when he criticized the arresting officer’s decision to book him into jail rather than cite and release him from the scene. The entire sequence of events was captured on the officer’s in-car video recording system. This recording was the key to getting the case dismissed on summary judgment since it allowed the trial judge to see exactly how the events unfolded, including the demeanor of the plaintiff, the tension created by his conduct, and the tone of voice used by the officer. The recording eliminated the typical “he said/he said” that usually complicates our efforts to get these cases resolved pre-trial.
We think this is a good case for officers to read (click here for a link to the Judge Suko’s opinion) so that they can understand how an otherwise solid arrest, based on undisputed probable cause, can become complicated if arrest or booking decisions appear to be based on what the suspect said and not what he did. Here, the video made it clear to Judge Suko that Mr. Ford’s actions, and not his words, formed the basis for the officers’ decision. Finding that there was no violation of any of plaintiff’s constitutional rights, the court never reached the issue of qualified immunity. We are proud of to have obtained this excellent outcome on behalf of our hard working officers, who responded professionally and with no use of force to circumstances that were tense, uncertain, and potentially dangerous.
