Mediaboss Marketing

Last month, the City of McMinnville was dropped as a defendant in a federal civil rights lawsuit. The suit alleged excessive force, false arrest and unreasonable seizure associated with the incident and requested $500,000 from Colwell and $500,000 from McMinnville. The suit arose from an incident involving former McMinnville Police Officer Justin Colwell. Colwell, who currently works at the Warren County Sheriff's Department, is alleged to have handcuffed a Black man in his own yard while responding to a call regarding a woman suspected to be involved in a domestic incident.

In March, an unopposed motion by plaintiff David J. Martin dismissed the City of McMinnville from the suit. Bailey Barnes and Michael Galligan are representing Martin with Cassandra Crane representing Officer Colwell. Daniel Rader, IV represented the City of McMinnville until it was removed from the suit last month in an unopposed motion. Rader said the city did not settle and was voluntarily dropped from the suit. The $1 million lawsuit was initially filed Feb. 23, 2022.

The suit references the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 which it says serves a critical, necessary purpose in protecting the essential interests and basic humanity of citizens who have been deprived of constitutional or statutory rights by those acting under color of state law.

Martins suit looks to the judicial system as is his right under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. 1983, to shield him from abuse when the state is unwilling or unable to do so on its own."

In a filing from April 11, 2022, the City of McMinnville took offense to the mention of the KKK saying it was solely to create a salacious perception by the public at large or within the news media, and not for any legitimate legal purpose.

Martin alleges Officer Colwell used excessive force and violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure when Martin was allegedly painfully and tightly handcuffed in the back of a squad car on his own property. Colwell claims he was operating on reasonable suspicion (a lower bar to prove than probable cause) when he made a Terry stop, detaining Martin because he refused to respond to basic questions regarding the domestic incident Colwell was called to the area for.

In Colwells response to the suit he said he felt Martin had seemingly implicated he was involved by asserting his Fifth Amendment right. McMinnvilles position was the city is not vicariously responsible for the conduct of Officer Colwell.

Colwells defense is he was conducting a Terry stop but may not have met the conditions for a lawful one. In Terry v. Ohio it was ruled that if an officer believes the suspect is armed based on experience and knowledge they may conduct a limited search for weapons. In Floyd v. The City of New York, courts held that a Terry stop was not constitutional as it was being used as a pretext for racial profiling. Only a non-invasive examination of the exterior clothing layer is considered lawful even in jurisdictions, like Tennessee, where a Terry stop is not considered an illegal stop-and-frisk.

Martin was in his own yard, shirtless and wearing flip flops according to Galligan, which may make Colwells defense hard to prove. Colwells defense hinges on being able to prove reasonable suspicion that Martin was armed and dangerous and/or in commission of a crime or that hes shielded by qualified immunity due to his position as a law enforcement officer.

Martin, who is in his 60s, made a complaint to the McMinnville Police Department about pain in his ankle from a prior injury and pain from allegedly being aggressively handcuffed, causing his hands to swell in pain.

McMinnville Police Department conducted an internal affairs investigation and determined Colwell followed departmental protocols. This is despite the fact that Colwell had been warned about not wearing a body-worn camera and not using a dashcam. A recurring disciplinary issue that is uncontested is that Colwell allegedly had a habit of not following department policy regarding dashcam and body-worn cameras. No bodycam or dashcam footage of the interaction with Martin is available as a result of this lapse.

Sgt. Joseph Butler was instructed to inform Colwell, who admitted he often didnt wear a body-worn camera, to begin doing so. The suit alleges that Sgt. Justin Shrum ordered Butler to take a body camera to Colwell. McMinnville claimed the reason Colwell still didnt have a bodycam or dashcam operating was because of a miscommunication and due to an equipment shortage. The bodycam should have been received by Colwell about a month before the incident with Martin.

In its response, McMinnville did not deny the prior incident described but argued the statute of limitations had passed, disparaging the claim as an attempt to try an entirely separate, distinct and unrelated incident.

Colwell admitted taking off his badge during a previous incident which resulted in a write-up: I will not let suspects or the public get under my skin. The previous incident occurred in June 2020. Colwell responded to a call regarding a suspect who had recently received major back surgery and had a rod put in their back. The suit alleges the rod in the suspects back resulted in them needing a walker for mobility which made performing a field sobriety test difficult. Colwell searched the suspect and found a pill in their pocket, asked them to have a seat in the squad car and, when they didnt get in the back seat quickly enough due to their mobility issues, Colwell allegedly used force to push the suspect into the back seat.

Things continued to verbally escalate with the suspect at one point calling Colwell fat which sparked an expletive-laden response from Colwell who allegedly threatened to kill the suspect. Colwell admits to having taken his badge off during the exchange. McMinnville Police Department did not require Colwell to attend any sort of de-escalation or anger management classes.

The trial itself is set for Oct. 17, 2023 at 10 a.m. and is expected to take three to four days to complete. Colwells lawyer, Crane, responded to a request for comment: Mr. Colwell vehemently denies any wrongdoing in this case. I am unable to comment further on pending litigation.

See the rest here:
Former MPD officer sued - McMinnville - Southern Standard