Article from Reason by Billy Binion.
Two police officers who allegedly assaulted a man outside of his own house and arrested him on bogus charges after failing to identify themselves as law enforcement are protected by qualified immunity and cannot be sued, a federal court confirmed Monday.
Shase Howse, the appellant, alleges that on July 28, 2016, a group of men pulled up to his home in an unmarked vehicle without uniforms on and asked him if he lived at the residence. After Howse answered in the affirmative, Officer Brian Middaugh of the Cleveland Police Department (CPD) pressed Howse on if he was sure he lived there. “Yes, what the fuck?” Howse allegedly responded, still unaware Middaugh was a cop. Middaugh, commenting on Howse’s bad attitude, then exited the unmarked vehicle and approached him on the porch, asking him once again if he lived there. Howse said he did.
Following that exchange, Howse alleges that Middaugh commanded him to put his hands behind his back because he was going to jail. Howse did not oblige, telling Middaugh that he lived at the residence and that he’d done nothing wrong. Middaugh then threw him to the ground, and with the help of CPD Officer Thomas Hodous, handcuffed him while Howse resisted. It was after he was tackled that Howse realized the men were police officers.
As he lay on the porch, Howse’s mother, who heard the noise from inside, exited the residence, where she says she saw one man straddling her son while another punched his head with a closed fist, causing Howse’s head to hit the porch. She, too, did not initially realize they were officers.
NOTE: Howse was jailed for several days before he was able to post bond. Charges were eventually dropped.
Read the entire article at Reason.
Image Credit: By Jamelle Bouie [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
wpDiscuz
He needs to sue the crap out of the police department if he can’t file suit against the officers
He is in his house and these cops are dirty playing dirty cop tricks. Sir please sue the city and the police officers. I should have sued the city of Beaverton , Oregon for their “comfortably retired narcotics expert cop” that accused me of being on narcotics, I asked for a blood test. I got my own that tested negative, and charges were dropped. His following closely with brights, blinding me, had nothing to do with it. Oregon has its share of bad cops, too. Just like the retired Clark county Washington sheriffs deputy that I sued. TRUMP. 2020
I remember when the Dallas police department had to lower their hiring standards to accommodate the black and mexican applicates, so don’t blame the breakdown of law enforcement on the police
He is in his house and these cops are dirty playing dirty cop tricks. Sir please sue the city and the police officers. I should have sued the city of Beaverton , Oregon for their “comfortably retired narcotics expert cop” that accused me of being on narcotics, I asked for a blood test. I got my own that tested negative, and charges were dropped. His following closely with brights, blinding me, had nothing to do with it. Oregon has its share of bad cops, too. Just like the retired Clark county Washington sheriffs deputy that I sued.
There are Bad cops, bad doctors, bad lawyers, & I don’t know about Indian Chief’s. We need to deal with the bad without defacing the good. Currently there is no respect for police. So who are you gonna call when you need help? Ghost Busters?
Exactly!
All cops should under go a lie detector test to see if they abided by the laws. Ones who fail be caned.
You better unsubscribe me from your mailing list, before I end up suing you. How dare you put that filthy language on my computer screen, and then do not even have an unsubscribe button on your website. You really ought to be ashamed of yourself, and if you had any dignity issue me an apology.