Post by KC on Mar 7, 2006 0:01:42 GMT -5
03/06/2006 - An Athens man beaten by Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers during a traffic stop has gotten a $10,000 settlement in a defamation suit against an OSHP official.
As part of the settlement, the agency will send a letter to the editor to The Athens Messenger, apologizing for statements made about plaintiff Billy J. Dunfee by a Patrol officer in an earlier letter published by the newspaper.
Dunfee, 47, sued three Patrol officers in April 2002, starting the case in Athens County Common Pleas Court before it was transferred to U.S. District Court. His suit was based on a January 2002 incident, in which troopers stopped the car in which he was riding as a passenger on U.S. Rt. 33, for making an illegal U-turn across the highway divider, then beat, kicked, clubbed and maced Dunfee after he allegedly refused to keep his hands in sight and step out of the car.
Though in March 2004 a jury in Athens County Municipal Court found Dunfee innocent of resisting arrest, he lost his federal lawsuit nine months later, when a jury ruled that the troopers had sufficient justification for pulling him out of the car, and did not use excessive force to subdue him.
Dunfee appealed the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court, and also filed a defamation suit against Trooper Capt. George T. Maier, based on comments he made in a letter to a local newspaper following the verdict.
Maier, who was not a defendant in the excessive force case, had stated in a letter to the Messenger that Dunfee "had a criminal history of violent confrontation with officers." Dunfee's attorney John Lavelle claimed that statement was "materially false, misleading and libelous." After Maier refused to retract it, Lavelle filed suit in the Ohio Court of Claims.
In a combined settlement, the federal appeal and the defamation suit were resolved around the beginning of the year, though the parties gave no indication in the federal suit as to whether Dunfee got any money.
In the court of claims suit, however, the settlement filing indicates that Dunfee will get $10,000 from the OSHP and an apology letter from Major William Costas, the agency's commander of operations, in exchange for dropping his suit and any other claims based on the actions of the defendant that triggered the first suit. The OSHP will pay court costs.
The settlement acknowledges that the police agency cannot control whether the Messenger publishes its letter or not.
The letter from Costas states that while the Patrol believes information in Maier's December 2004 letter to the editor was accurate, "we now recognize that the letter could be read out of context to indicate that Billy J. Dunfee had a criminal history of violent confrontations with officers prior to January of 2002, and we respectfully apologize to Mr. Dunfee if this was the net effect of the letter."
It adds that "the intent of the letter was certainly not to defame Mr. Dunfee," and that Maier only sent it "after careful deliberation, input, guidance, and direction by our staff in our Columbus headquarters."
As part of the settlement, the agency will send a letter to the editor to The Athens Messenger, apologizing for statements made about plaintiff Billy J. Dunfee by a Patrol officer in an earlier letter published by the newspaper.
Dunfee, 47, sued three Patrol officers in April 2002, starting the case in Athens County Common Pleas Court before it was transferred to U.S. District Court. His suit was based on a January 2002 incident, in which troopers stopped the car in which he was riding as a passenger on U.S. Rt. 33, for making an illegal U-turn across the highway divider, then beat, kicked, clubbed and maced Dunfee after he allegedly refused to keep his hands in sight and step out of the car.
Though in March 2004 a jury in Athens County Municipal Court found Dunfee innocent of resisting arrest, he lost his federal lawsuit nine months later, when a jury ruled that the troopers had sufficient justification for pulling him out of the car, and did not use excessive force to subdue him.
Dunfee appealed the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court, and also filed a defamation suit against Trooper Capt. George T. Maier, based on comments he made in a letter to a local newspaper following the verdict.
Maier, who was not a defendant in the excessive force case, had stated in a letter to the Messenger that Dunfee "had a criminal history of violent confrontation with officers." Dunfee's attorney John Lavelle claimed that statement was "materially false, misleading and libelous." After Maier refused to retract it, Lavelle filed suit in the Ohio Court of Claims.
In a combined settlement, the federal appeal and the defamation suit were resolved around the beginning of the year, though the parties gave no indication in the federal suit as to whether Dunfee got any money.
In the court of claims suit, however, the settlement filing indicates that Dunfee will get $10,000 from the OSHP and an apology letter from Major William Costas, the agency's commander of operations, in exchange for dropping his suit and any other claims based on the actions of the defendant that triggered the first suit. The OSHP will pay court costs.
The settlement acknowledges that the police agency cannot control whether the Messenger publishes its letter or not.
The letter from Costas states that while the Patrol believes information in Maier's December 2004 letter to the editor was accurate, "we now recognize that the letter could be read out of context to indicate that Billy J. Dunfee had a criminal history of violent confrontations with officers prior to January of 2002, and we respectfully apologize to Mr. Dunfee if this was the net effect of the letter."
It adds that "the intent of the letter was certainly not to defame Mr. Dunfee," and that Maier only sent it "after careful deliberation, input, guidance, and direction by our staff in our Columbus headquarters."