শ্বাসরোধের মামলায় মিনিয়াপোলিস আইনি খরচ দেবে না
In a rare move, the city of Minneapolis has said it will not cover the legal expenses for a former police officer accused of using excessive force. The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled this week that the city is on solid ground in refusing to indemnify the former officer, but it’s unclear whether the city’s decision signals a significant change in how it handles police misconduct settlements. In the summer of 2020, Minneapolis was on edge after the killing of George Floyd. On August 26th, a rumor spread that police had killed someone at Nicollet Mall. In reality, the individual was a suspect in a homicide earlier that day who shot himself as police arrived on the scene. Hundreds of people gathered downtown and began to riot. They vandalized many stores. Several of them set fire to Target headquarters. Asante Simmons was part of a group looting a Foot Locker. In video, Simmons can be seen running with a shoebox under his arm as Officer Alexander Vladimir Brown chases him through a hallway. Brown strikes Simmons in the head with a nightstick, knocking him to the ground, and hitting him repeatedly. He then puts Simmons in a chokehold, pins him to the ground, and handcuffs him. Prosecutors charged Simmons with burglary and assaulting an officer, based on Brown’s report. But they later dropped the case when Simmons’ attorney obtained the video that contradicted the officer’s claim of being assaulted. In 2024, Simmons filed a civil rights lawsuit naming both the city and Brown. The city settled its portion for $275,000, but has refused to indemnify Brown, meaning taxpayers are not on the hook for his attorney fees or any portion of a judgment against him. Brown is challenging the city’s action in the Minnesota Court of Appeals. His attorney, Joseph Kelly, argues that state law requires municipalities to indemnify their officials, and that Brown has been denied due process. “The city was withholding all of the evidence that was in its possession at the time that it made its initial decision, or refusal to take up the defense,” Kelly said during oral arguments before a three-judge panel in July. Attorney Heinz Hansen, who represents the city, countered that Brown’s actions, particularly the chokehold, were unlawful, so the city was exempt from covering his legal costs. “Brown used deadly force on someone who exhibited no signs of threatening anyone,” Hansen said. In their opinion released Monday, the appellate judges noted that Brown put Simmons in a chokehold just a month after Minnesota lawmakers banned chokeholds. Brown left the department in 2021 with a $175,000 settlement, and has not been charged with any crime. Brown’s attorney did not respond to MPR News’ request for comment. City officials declined to comment, and have not said publicly why they refused to indemnify Brown, after covering the legal costs of former officers Derek Chauvin and Mohamed Noor. They both went to prison for killing civilians, and together their actions have cost Minneapolis taxpayers more than $47 million in settlements. Not indemnifying police officers is rare, said Rachel Moran, a University of St. Thomas professor who studies police accountability. “Maybe there’s more of a wake-up around the fact that the city doesn’t want to be accountable, and doesn’t even want to look like it is paying for police officers who are doing really problematic things,” Moran said. Moran said the city’s decision may have more to do with the specific facts of Simmons’ claim, and doesn’t signal a larger policy shift against indemnifying police officers. Attorney Bob Bennett has sued the Minneapolis Police Department several times, although he is not involved in the Simmons case. Bennett won Justine Ruszczyk’s family $20 million after former officer Noor shot and killed her in 2017. Because officers typically have limited personal assets, Bennett said that without indemnification, victims of excessive force won’t get the settlements they deserve. “Why should the victims be victimized by this?” Bennett said. “I gave them the uniform, I gave them the weapon, I gave them the training, I gave them the psychological review. I don’t think the world should work that way.” Individuals who are victims of excessive force can still sue cities when suing individuals privately is impractical, said Joanna Schwartz, a law professor who studies indemnification policies at the University of California, Los Angeles. But in those cases, she said plaintiffs have a steep hill to climb. “In a lawsuit against a local government, you basically have to prove that the government had a policy or custom that led to the unconstitutional conduct in the case, and that can be very hard to prove,” Schwartz said. Though the city of Minneapolis has refused to indemnify Brown, Jordan Kushner, the attorney representing Asante-Simmons, says he plans to pursue the case.
প্রকাশিত: 2025-10-16 15:00:00
উৎস: www.mprnews.org
