More details to this question:
About a year and a half ago, myself and a couple of friends were in a bar when one of the patrons began shooting us with a water gun. One of my friends went to find the owner to let him know what was happening. Turns out the girl shooting us with the h2o gun was a friend of the owner's so he asked us to leave his establishment instead. On the way of us leaving the place, the owner got into a verbal altercation with one of the males in our group. I, a female, said loudly to the owner that he was being a gay slur for throwing us out. The owner actually was gay but I didn't know this at the time being. Anyway, when we walked out of the bar there were 2 different fights going on outside. The police must have seen the fights because they were approaching. I’m not sure who the people were who were fighting, but it was no one in our group. We continued down the street. A few seconds later I heard the owner running behind us stating, "it was her officer. She is the reason these fights are going on out here." The officer told my friends and I to stop while he spoke to the owner. About 5 minutes after speaking to the owner, the officer came and put me in handcuffs. I asked him was I being arrested and if so what for. He told me to get in his car. He never spoke to me anymore after that. I was in the back of the car for 5-10 minutes. He got me out and wrote me a citation for disorderly conduct going strictly off of what the owner told him because he didn't ask me anything. The officers didn't issue any of the guys who were actually fighting on the sidewalk any citations. I went to the PD to file a complaint about what happened two days later and I was told if I didn't report the officer they would do away with the ticket. The ticket was then removed from my record. My question is where my civil rights violated and if so what cause of action do I have?
7 ANSWERS
Ronald A. Steinberg
Your civil rights were violated. The owner of the bar is guilty of abuse of process. Get a lawyer.
Answered on Aug 12th, 2013 at 6:41 PM
You should report to Internal Affairs the officers who told you that they would drop the ticket if you did not complain. Your civil rights probably were violated but you have waited too long as a claim must be filed with the public entity within 6 months of the incident and your complaining would not meet the requirements. I doubt much will come out of the complaint to IA but it least the officer may be called in to explain his behavior. You also should not use any racial or other slurs in the future it can come back and hit you as it did with Paula Dean.
Answered on Jul 07th, 2013 at 8:23 PM
Michael J. Breczinski
See about suing the bar owner.
Answered on Jul 03rd, 2013 at 9:40 PM
Personal Injury Attorney serving Charlotte, NC
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Paul Whitfield and Associates P.A.
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You were involved in a bar fight and at a minimum your mouth contributed to the entire process. Do you really think a judge or jury would give you a verdict of any kind? I don't think so. Bar fights are not very popular in court. Why don't you stay home or go to a decent place where there are no bar fight Juries usually decide that whatever happens at a bar you probably deserve it.
Answered on Jul 03rd, 2013 at 12:04 PM
Thomas Edward Gates
Your civil rights were not violated. The officer had probable cause, even if the owner lied.
Answered on Jul 03rd, 2013 at 11:05 AM
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Andrew T. Velonis, P.C.
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No, your rights were not violated. They have to go on the information they have. The ticket was dropped. Forget about it.
Answered on Jul 03rd, 2013 at 9:48 AM
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It is not clear to me whether your civil rights were violated. The police have a right to detain you while they investigate a crime if the officer has some articulable suspicion that you were involved in a crime. They have a right to arrest you if they have probable cause to believe you committed a crime. Whatever the owner of the bar told them could have given the police probable cause to charge you. I cannot tell because I do not know what the bar tender told them. It is somewhat likely that the officer did not have probable cause to charge you because police often use Disorderly Conduct (PDOC) as a catch all charge for fighting, curing and causing a scene, etc., when actually, PDOC has a precise definition, using profanity or obscenity in public (which is different from curing because , some cursing is neither profane or obscene), or being grossly intoxicated in public. Causing a fight is not necessarily PDOC (although it could be assault and battery). I do not think your rights were violated just because you were detained. I think the officer had a right to do this. Since the officer gave you a ticket, rather than arresting you, even if he had no probable case for the charge, I do not see any violation that would justify a lawsuit. I think your only practical recourse is to file a complaint. You have a choice, to take the deal they are offering, or file the complaint and hope they drop the charge anyway (which they might) or go to trial on the charge.
Answered on Jul 03rd, 2013 at 9:35 AM