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Lyndal Kimble WarrenPolice Beating 7 2003
11 years ago
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Attorney Olivito's Section 1983 Lyndal Kimble Civil Rights Case Against Warren Settles: Case Received Strong National Media Attention in 03
The Kimble case from Warren Ohio, the case that made Good Morning America and other
national media stories, which contained a video tape of the plaintiff being severely
beat by three white Warren City Police officers was settled earlier this year.
The case's settlement was the culmination of a four year litigation effort with
Attorney Olivito winning the issues at the Sixth Circuit in 2006 after an early intelocutory
appellate challenge to the case was taken by Cleveland based insurance firm, Weston Hurd.
Judge Economus of the Northern District Court was the local court on the case and he
had become difficult w/ the lead counsel, Richard A. Olivito and often
became engaged in personal attacks on counsel and also demonstrated
a defensive attitude about fellow local Greek friend and close aquaintance, Chief Mandopolous
of Warren, who was named in the various cases Mr. Olivito brought against the City during
the relevant period. Economus lead the local effort to have Mr. Olivito's law license reviewed
after the various civil rights cases which eventually have settled successfully for the clients,
were developed by Mr. Olivito.
Nonetheless, the case was won on the merits mainly because of the determination of Mr. Olivito to litigate past the personal aspects of what was the opinion of those opposing
his efforts to bring constitutional level standards to a once economic powerhouse
of a region known for its former steel and present auto industry related output.
The case's basic legal strength derived from the original facts and the video taped
[and all too nationally demonstrated obvious] excessive force by the three white
Warren police officers, which was used against the plaintiff, Lyndal Kimble.
The case generated volumes of public debate and over 80 local and regional media
stories both in new and print media from Cleveland to Akron to Youngstown/Warren,
includinfg the AP.
It was ranked among the two top news story of the Cleveland regional media in 2003
and helped to trigger a U.S Department of Justice special litigaiton unit's official
investigation into Warren Ohio's police department in 2004-6 as instituted by
then outgoing U.S. Attorney General, John Ashcroft.
As part of the civil case's settlement, the family of Lyndal Kimble including his wife
Melodie and their five minor children will receive proceeds of the settlement from
Weston Hurd and the insurer St. Paul Insurance, from Minneapolis. The case's
settlement is an undisclosed sum as per the agreement between the parties to the
litigation.
The case represents the third federal Warren city civil rights case which Mr. Olivito
had developed and worked as lead solo counsel for a number of years which in turn has
resulted in an out of court settlement for the clients.
The other two include the Clarence Clay case [see related Links] which settled in the summer of 2004, after Mr. Olivito did both a successful criminal defense of Mr. Clay in a very rarified atmosphere inside a local court in Warren, Ohio [in September of 03] and after he obtained critical medical supportive documentation about injuries to Mr. Clay during his separate beating and subsequent illegal and improper strip search of Mr. Clay in the spring of 2003.
The Kimble family are happy this part of the issue is resolved and hope to now use part
of the proceeds from the case, to further defend Lyndal from related criminal prosecutions which the City of Warrren had developed against Lyndal post his 2003 nationally televised arrrest.
"The impact of the Kimble case on the entire region's law enforcement is deep and invaluable and it will continue to be a source of immense import to the regional and public discourse on just what are the constitutional standards that are to be followed and applied in citizen police encounters going forward and we at the Midwest Center for Constitutional Rights hope to maintain both the diligent vigilence by the Justice Department officials in the region and to keep the public interest high in relation to these critical issues that this case helped to generate for the protection of individual and families basic civil liberties throughout the Mahoning Valley, all of Northeastern Ohio and beyond." Attorney Olivito said in light of
the case's final civil settlment.
national media stories, which contained a video tape of the plaintiff being severely
beat by three white Warren City Police officers was settled earlier this year.
The case's settlement was the culmination of a four year litigation effort with
Attorney Olivito winning the issues at the Sixth Circuit in 2006 after an early intelocutory
appellate challenge to the case was taken by Cleveland based insurance firm, Weston Hurd.
Judge Economus of the Northern District Court was the local court on the case and he
had become difficult w/ the lead counsel, Richard A. Olivito and often
became engaged in personal attacks on counsel and also demonstrated
a defensive attitude about fellow local Greek friend and close aquaintance, Chief Mandopolous
of Warren, who was named in the various cases Mr. Olivito brought against the City during
the relevant period. Economus lead the local effort to have Mr. Olivito's law license reviewed
after the various civil rights cases which eventually have settled successfully for the clients,
were developed by Mr. Olivito.
Nonetheless, the case was won on the merits mainly because of the determination of Mr. Olivito to litigate past the personal aspects of what was the opinion of those opposing
his efforts to bring constitutional level standards to a once economic powerhouse
of a region known for its former steel and present auto industry related output.
The case's basic legal strength derived from the original facts and the video taped
[and all too nationally demonstrated obvious] excessive force by the three white
Warren police officers, which was used against the plaintiff, Lyndal Kimble.
The case generated volumes of public debate and over 80 local and regional media
stories both in new and print media from Cleveland to Akron to Youngstown/Warren,
includinfg the AP.
It was ranked among the two top news story of the Cleveland regional media in 2003
and helped to trigger a U.S Department of Justice special litigaiton unit's official
investigation into Warren Ohio's police department in 2004-6 as instituted by
then outgoing U.S. Attorney General, John Ashcroft.
As part of the civil case's settlement, the family of Lyndal Kimble including his wife
Melodie and their five minor children will receive proceeds of the settlement from
Weston Hurd and the insurer St. Paul Insurance, from Minneapolis. The case's
settlement is an undisclosed sum as per the agreement between the parties to the
litigation.
The case represents the third federal Warren city civil rights case which Mr. Olivito
had developed and worked as lead solo counsel for a number of years which in turn has
resulted in an out of court settlement for the clients.
The other two include the Clarence Clay case [see related Links] which settled in the summer of 2004, after Mr. Olivito did both a successful criminal defense of Mr. Clay in a very rarified atmosphere inside a local court in Warren, Ohio [in September of 03] and after he obtained critical medical supportive documentation about injuries to Mr. Clay during his separate beating and subsequent illegal and improper strip search of Mr. Clay in the spring of 2003.
The Kimble family are happy this part of the issue is resolved and hope to now use part
of the proceeds from the case, to further defend Lyndal from related criminal prosecutions which the City of Warrren had developed against Lyndal post his 2003 nationally televised arrrest.
"The impact of the Kimble case on the entire region's law enforcement is deep and invaluable and it will continue to be a source of immense import to the regional and public discourse on just what are the constitutional standards that are to be followed and applied in citizen police encounters going forward and we at the Midwest Center for Constitutional Rights hope to maintain both the diligent vigilence by the Justice Department officials in the region and to keep the public interest high in relation to these critical issues that this case helped to generate for the protection of individual and families basic civil liberties throughout the Mahoning Valley, all of Northeastern Ohio and beyond." Attorney Olivito said in light of
the case's final civil settlment.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Dan Thorne Jr v City of Steubenville: A Win For The Fourth Amendment & A Family re An Improper Warrantless Search of Their Residence
The United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati just recently held
in an unpublished but unamious decision that the City of Steubenville Police were NOT entitled
to qualified immunity when they jumped over a six foot privacy fence of the City residence of
the Dan and Sharon Thorne family located in Buena Vista Blvd, Steubenville, Ohio and then
improperly pursued their only son inside his own backyard and then minutes later falsely
arrested him on unrelated underage drinking charges, inside his own residence, all unrelated to
the just prior illegal search of the backyard residence. This was all done in violation of the
plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment rights to the U.S. Constitution, according to the Sixth Circuit,
in the Court's decision upholding the original well written United State's District Court opinion
issued last December.
The case had alleged not only an improper search and false arrest but also a very serious
excessive force claim as well, within a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by the Thornes and
their original civil rights lawyer, Richard A. Olivito in January of 2005.
"This decision is literally just a breathtaking win in so many ways for not only the plaintiffs
family and the hard fought efforts of the same, but for everyone who worked on the
underlying case, with all the personal hardships and risks such plaintiffs undertake and have
to endure as civil rights litigants inside an oftentimes unforgiving and uncertain riskly legal
process.
The family who brought this case paid not only a price in terms of what happened
originally to them and their only young adult son, but in terms of just having to endure the
worst of an out of control particular insurance defense lawyer in the lower court, for the law
firm defending the city and it officers, who defended the case, at times, in an extremely
personal negative manner for the city," Olivito states.
What is so special is that the Bill of Rights and in particular the Fourth Amendment
safeguards were not only endorsed within this sometimes bitterly fought case, but
such protections were afforded their complete lawful due and their intended broad
interpretation as it ought to be when it comes to local police officers attempting to justify
an otherwise infirm warrantless search of a family's backyard for no real reason, where no
crime was committed and there no evidence of any kind existed to justify such an extreme set
of multiple violations of the Fourth Amendment's safeguards against unreasonable searches
and seizures as described inside this case's pleadings.
Olivito says, "This outcome is what makes everyone associated on the plaintiff's side of
such a complex constitutional case, who have had to endure so much, so worthwhile."
He adds, "the Thorne family derserves the immense credit for just simply believing deeply in
the Constitution, in themselves and being unfraid in the face of so much opposition and constant
highly orchestrated efforts to discourage them from truly bringing this case to this point. When
it works, however, at this stage, the entire legal system can be a thing of beauty."
"My own sometimes present deeply cynical world view of the present status of the
American's ability to vindicate their fundamental and special rights simply as guaranteed to
them as American citizens by our nation's first principles was completely blown away by this
very unique, practical and brilliant yet very conservative set of mainly republican federal high
court of appeals appointees.
Its simply something to behold and I wish everyone who is interested in what
is happening to the erosion of American's civil liberties could have been present
for this case's oral arguments and experience just how powerful true American
'conservative' values are and how majestic it is when a real court of law operates
in such an amazingly consistent fashion with the higher ideals and purposes of
this nation's founding fathers."
The Thorne case is now remanded back by the conservative justices of the Sixth Circuit
to the Clinton appointee U.S. District Court Judge, Judge Algenon Marbley, of Columbus, whose
thirty five page original opinion on the intricacies of the underlying issues of American's Fourth
Amendment protections was both clearly and fully upheld, but also completely vindicated.
Olivito also notes, "Attorney James McNamara picked up exactly where
we left off last fall and he deserves his usual solid praise for his appellate briefing
of the case before the Sixth Circuit and his professional presentation of the same
at the oral arguments in opposition to the chief counsel for the city insurer
defense law firm of Mazenec, Raskin and Ryder.
"Jim and I go way back, he's one who taught me much originally about such
cases years ago and it was an honor to have him come in at such a critical
juncture in this case and like a somewhat older brother and a great veteran
baseball pitcher, just do what he does and take the game and make it into yet
another save for everyone on our side."
This victory was particularly sweet since the Sixth Circuit argument and
decision came so quickly and right within the same month and week of the 10 year
anniversary of the signing of the nation's first fully federally investigated
Department of Justice consent decree regarding pattern and practice police
misconduct pertaining to the City of Steubenville, a very unique and special effort
resulting from both Attorney McNamara, Olivito's and others, like Skip
Mixon's, long and uniquely dedicated efforts regarding the same.
"It's so good to know, that even at this time in our lives, by some severe mercy,
we together can still make a difference for not only clients like the Thorne family
regarding such eggregarious police misconduct claims for the entire Steubenville
region, if not the midwest, as well, constitutionally speaking."
"After this unanamous conservative high court opinion, I might even have to
consider becoming a republican and join Jim this time, for one of many of those
superb Ronald Reagan-Tip Oneil' Irish toasts that he sometimes
in an unpublished but unamious decision that the City of Steubenville Police were NOT entitled
to qualified immunity when they jumped over a six foot privacy fence of the City residence of
the Dan and Sharon Thorne family located in Buena Vista Blvd, Steubenville, Ohio and then
improperly pursued their only son inside his own backyard and then minutes later falsely
arrested him on unrelated underage drinking charges, inside his own residence, all unrelated to
the just prior illegal search of the backyard residence. This was all done in violation of the
plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment rights to the U.S. Constitution, according to the Sixth Circuit,
in the Court's decision upholding the original well written United State's District Court opinion
issued last December.
The case had alleged not only an improper search and false arrest but also a very serious
excessive force claim as well, within a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by the Thornes and
their original civil rights lawyer, Richard A. Olivito in January of 2005.
"This decision is literally just a breathtaking win in so many ways for not only the plaintiffs
family and the hard fought efforts of the same, but for everyone who worked on the
underlying case, with all the personal hardships and risks such plaintiffs undertake and have
to endure as civil rights litigants inside an oftentimes unforgiving and uncertain riskly legal
process.
The family who brought this case paid not only a price in terms of what happened
originally to them and their only young adult son, but in terms of just having to endure the
worst of an out of control particular insurance defense lawyer in the lower court, for the law
firm defending the city and it officers, who defended the case, at times, in an extremely
personal negative manner for the city," Olivito states.
What is so special is that the Bill of Rights and in particular the Fourth Amendment
safeguards were not only endorsed within this sometimes bitterly fought case, but
such protections were afforded their complete lawful due and their intended broad
interpretation as it ought to be when it comes to local police officers attempting to justify
an otherwise infirm warrantless search of a family's backyard for no real reason, where no
crime was committed and there no evidence of any kind existed to justify such an extreme set
of multiple violations of the Fourth Amendment's safeguards against unreasonable searches
and seizures as described inside this case's pleadings.
Olivito says, "This outcome is what makes everyone associated on the plaintiff's side of
such a complex constitutional case, who have had to endure so much, so worthwhile."
He adds, "the Thorne family derserves the immense credit for just simply believing deeply in
the Constitution, in themselves and being unfraid in the face of so much opposition and constant
highly orchestrated efforts to discourage them from truly bringing this case to this point. When
it works, however, at this stage, the entire legal system can be a thing of beauty."
"My own sometimes present deeply cynical world view of the present status of the
American's ability to vindicate their fundamental and special rights simply as guaranteed to
them as American citizens by our nation's first principles was completely blown away by this
very unique, practical and brilliant yet very conservative set of mainly republican federal high
court of appeals appointees.
Its simply something to behold and I wish everyone who is interested in what
is happening to the erosion of American's civil liberties could have been present
for this case's oral arguments and experience just how powerful true American
'conservative' values are and how majestic it is when a real court of law operates
in such an amazingly consistent fashion with the higher ideals and purposes of
this nation's founding fathers."
The Thorne case is now remanded back by the conservative justices of the Sixth Circuit
to the Clinton appointee U.S. District Court Judge, Judge Algenon Marbley, of Columbus, whose
thirty five page original opinion on the intricacies of the underlying issues of American's Fourth
Amendment protections was both clearly and fully upheld, but also completely vindicated.
Olivito also notes, "Attorney James McNamara picked up exactly where
we left off last fall and he deserves his usual solid praise for his appellate briefing
of the case before the Sixth Circuit and his professional presentation of the same
at the oral arguments in opposition to the chief counsel for the city insurer
defense law firm of Mazenec, Raskin and Ryder.
"Jim and I go way back, he's one who taught me much originally about such
cases years ago and it was an honor to have him come in at such a critical
juncture in this case and like a somewhat older brother and a great veteran
baseball pitcher, just do what he does and take the game and make it into yet
another save for everyone on our side."
This victory was particularly sweet since the Sixth Circuit argument and
decision came so quickly and right within the same month and week of the 10 year
anniversary of the signing of the nation's first fully federally investigated
Department of Justice consent decree regarding pattern and practice police
misconduct pertaining to the City of Steubenville, a very unique and special effort
resulting from both Attorney McNamara, Olivito's and others, like Skip
Mixon's, long and uniquely dedicated efforts regarding the same.
"It's so good to know, that even at this time in our lives, by some severe mercy,
we together can still make a difference for not only clients like the Thorne family
regarding such eggregarious police misconduct claims for the entire Steubenville
region, if not the midwest, as well, constitutionally speaking."
"It may be the last time I get to work with central Ohio's master of civil rights
police litigation" speaking of Columbus Attorney James McNamara."
Olivito, added thereafter, in his somewhat tongue in cheek fashion,"After this unanamous conservative high court opinion, I might even have to
consider becoming a republican and join Jim this time, for one of many of those
superb Ronald Reagan-Tip Oneil' Irish toasts that he sometimes
enjoys! ...smilingly of course...
But the present smiles belie the many deeply concealed battle wounds, of
Olivito's own sacrifices along the way and such present easy moments were not
always there...for most of this case's two year journey; a odyssy only the Thorne
family themselves, Attorney Olivito and family friend Skip Mixon can fully
appreciate.
"No one will ever know exactly what they have all endured and how many long
nights and days it took them to get to this point." Olivito adds, when speaking
of his friend Dan Thorne Sr and his family and their friend Skip Mixon.
What is especially meaningful for me is this decision comes on the 10th
anniversary of the signing of the original consent decree concerning this
same city police department. "What a anniversay gift the Sixth Circuit
provided to us when they stood up for the average american fundamental
rights under the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment ten years
to the same week that the historical decree was formally entered into
in 1997. I'll never forget that period in my life and this is just yet another
similar kind of breakthru..."
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