'1-arm' case ruling sought

Florida Keys News - Key West Citizen

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

'1-arm' case ruling sought

Woman claims cop used excessive force

BY GWEN FILOSA Citizen Staff
gfilosa@keysnews.com

The city of Key West wants a federal judge to decide whether a police officer used excessive force while trying to arrest a one-armed woman at a guesthouse in 2008.

Suzann Hollis sued the city and Officer Eric Biskup before the legal clock ran out last February, claiming that Biskup grabbed her "without warning" and slammed her head into the windshield of his patrol car, pep...

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Correct

Submitted on Wed, 02/13/2013 - 7:13am by Conch Harbor

The police got it right this time.

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Why is the city still a defendant?

Submitted on Wed, 02/13/2013 - 3:55am by KeyWestDan

The city is not liable unless the plaintiff can prove that the officer was following an official policy or custom of the city, or in the alternative that there was an institutional wide lack of proper training of the officers. Most civil rights case against cities fail for this reason. Usually the city will file a motion for summary judgment. Sure the city still generally defends the officer, but the city itself is not usually on the hook. Also, an excessive force case must consist of truly excessive force and a lack of probable cause.