Post by KC on Nov 2, 2006 20:28:30 GMT -5
A woman who sued the city of Aspen and five of its police officers for alleged Fourth Amendment violations will receive $10,000 as part of a deal that was hatched Wednesday, according to federal court documents.
The city offered plaintiff Suzanne Weinstock what's called an "offer of judgment" in the form of $10,000. Weinstock, who alleged that police barged into her house without consent or a warrant and interrogated her while she was partially nude, accepted.
The offer of judgment is different than a settlement, attorneys on both sides said.
Weinstock's attorney, Marcel Krzystek of Denver, called the offer "essentially a guilty plea."
"The city of Aspen essentially did a very reasonable thing, which is to recognize they were likely to lose," he said. "It was much easier for them to end this now before they spent a significant amount of time and resources defending the case."
Marc Colin, who defended Assistant Police Chief Glenn Schaffer and police officer Eric Ross in the lawsuit, said, "The reality is the plaintiffs wanted a judgment and they didn't want to settle this. And this was a way for the city to cut its attorney's fees by 90 percent."
Colin said the offer of judgment is not an admission of guilt. To continue litigation in the lawsuit, which was filed in August in U.S. District Court in Denver, would have been a "waste of a bunch of attorney's fees," Colin noted.
"Litigating this case is certainly not worth spending $100,000 in attorney's fees in a case where there can be a $10,000 judgment and offer."
Denver lawyer Andrew Fisher, who represented the city as well as officers John Rushing, Ian MacAyeal and Leon Murray, could not be reached yesterday.
Weinstock's lawsuit had made claims related to unlawful search and seizure components of the Fourth Amendment. It also alleged that Schaffer failed to give proper training to officers in the area of the Fourth Amendment.
The suit was filed nearly two years after Aug. 19, 2004, when police officers entered Weinstock's Durant Avenue residence. Police were making what's known as a welfare check because Weinstock's roommate's employer had contacted the APD out of concern that the roommate had not shown up for work that day.
According to the lawsuit, Weinstock was taking a shower and was interrupted several times by phone calls from cops about her roommate's whereabouts. Weinstock told police she did know where her roommate was, and only left the shower to take the calls because she thought it might be her roommate on the phone. But officers went to her home nonetheless, the suit alleged.
Meanwhile, three more officers -- Murray, MacAyeal, and Schaffer -- then arrived at the scene to join officers Ross and Rushing, the suit said, and that's when things unraveled. The suit said Weinstock only opened the door after she felt intimidated by the loud knocking and one officer's threat to knock it down. While the door was cracked open, Weinstock, who was nude, told police to go away, but Ross "then placed his foot in the crack between the door frame, making it impossible for Ms. Weinstock to close the front door," the suit said.
Weinstock went back to her room, and police entered her residence without a warrant or her consent, the complaint alleged.
"(Police) then pushed open the door of the bedroom where Ms. Weinstock was semi-nude and in the process of dressing her self. (Police) stood by and watched Ms. Weinstock finish dressing and questioned her at the same time. (Police) then searched through the residence, looking, among other places, under the couch, under the bed, and into the closets."
Weinstock was eventually arrested and charged with false reporting, because she told Ross that her name was "Lara Jon," the stage name she has used as a singer for 15 years, the suit says. Ross had learned of her actual name when he found it on a handwritten letter in her shopping bag, the suit said.
Weinstock spent one night in jail, and after representing herself in court, prosecutors dropped the charge when a judge ruled in Weinstock's favor to suppress the evidence police collected the day in question.
www.aspendailynews.com/article_16662
The city offered plaintiff Suzanne Weinstock what's called an "offer of judgment" in the form of $10,000. Weinstock, who alleged that police barged into her house without consent or a warrant and interrogated her while she was partially nude, accepted.
The offer of judgment is different than a settlement, attorneys on both sides said.
Weinstock's attorney, Marcel Krzystek of Denver, called the offer "essentially a guilty plea."
"The city of Aspen essentially did a very reasonable thing, which is to recognize they were likely to lose," he said. "It was much easier for them to end this now before they spent a significant amount of time and resources defending the case."
Marc Colin, who defended Assistant Police Chief Glenn Schaffer and police officer Eric Ross in the lawsuit, said, "The reality is the plaintiffs wanted a judgment and they didn't want to settle this. And this was a way for the city to cut its attorney's fees by 90 percent."
Colin said the offer of judgment is not an admission of guilt. To continue litigation in the lawsuit, which was filed in August in U.S. District Court in Denver, would have been a "waste of a bunch of attorney's fees," Colin noted.
"Litigating this case is certainly not worth spending $100,000 in attorney's fees in a case where there can be a $10,000 judgment and offer."
Denver lawyer Andrew Fisher, who represented the city as well as officers John Rushing, Ian MacAyeal and Leon Murray, could not be reached yesterday.
Weinstock's lawsuit had made claims related to unlawful search and seizure components of the Fourth Amendment. It also alleged that Schaffer failed to give proper training to officers in the area of the Fourth Amendment.
The suit was filed nearly two years after Aug. 19, 2004, when police officers entered Weinstock's Durant Avenue residence. Police were making what's known as a welfare check because Weinstock's roommate's employer had contacted the APD out of concern that the roommate had not shown up for work that day.
According to the lawsuit, Weinstock was taking a shower and was interrupted several times by phone calls from cops about her roommate's whereabouts. Weinstock told police she did know where her roommate was, and only left the shower to take the calls because she thought it might be her roommate on the phone. But officers went to her home nonetheless, the suit alleged.
Meanwhile, three more officers -- Murray, MacAyeal, and Schaffer -- then arrived at the scene to join officers Ross and Rushing, the suit said, and that's when things unraveled. The suit said Weinstock only opened the door after she felt intimidated by the loud knocking and one officer's threat to knock it down. While the door was cracked open, Weinstock, who was nude, told police to go away, but Ross "then placed his foot in the crack between the door frame, making it impossible for Ms. Weinstock to close the front door," the suit said.
Weinstock went back to her room, and police entered her residence without a warrant or her consent, the complaint alleged.
"(Police) then pushed open the door of the bedroom where Ms. Weinstock was semi-nude and in the process of dressing her self. (Police) stood by and watched Ms. Weinstock finish dressing and questioned her at the same time. (Police) then searched through the residence, looking, among other places, under the couch, under the bed, and into the closets."
Weinstock was eventually arrested and charged with false reporting, because she told Ross that her name was "Lara Jon," the stage name she has used as a singer for 15 years, the suit says. Ross had learned of her actual name when he found it on a handwritten letter in her shopping bag, the suit said.
Weinstock spent one night in jail, and after representing herself in court, prosecutors dropped the charge when a judge ruled in Weinstock's favor to suppress the evidence police collected the day in question.
www.aspendailynews.com/article_16662