SEQUIM — A federal lawsuit against the city — filed last year by a Sequim man who was punched by police outside a nightclub during the 2013 Irrigation Festival — is proceeding to a jury trial.
The trial has been set for 9:30 a.m. Oct. 5 at U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington in Tacoma.
Morgan Weimer, 48, is seeking damages and attorney’s fees from the city to cover medical bills, the week’s wages he lost while he was recovering and pain and suffering after he was hit May 12, 2013.
The amount would be determined by the jury hearing the case.
“It was the policy, custom and practice of defendant city of Sequim to utilize excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment,” said John Meunster, a Bainbridge Island attorney who is representing Weimer along with attorney John Black of Port Angeles.
Weimer’s attorneys filed suit Sept. 8, 2014, alleging police used unreasonable force when Officer Grant Dennis punched him in the lower back while trying to arrest him outside a concert at The Oasis Bar & Grill, 301 E. Washington St.
The police actions were recorded on a witness’ cellphone.
(SEE VIDEO TAKEN BY OASIS PATRON, BELOW THIS REPORT)
City officials have said police acted properly.
“I’ve reviewed the videos, and I’m familiar with use-of-force techniques and standards,” Craig Ritchie, who was then city attorney and is now interim city manager, said in September.
“From what I’ve seen, it fits our training, it fits standard practice, it fits our policies.”
A claim Weimer filed with the city’s risk-management agency was declined in February 2014 “because excessive force wasn’t used,” former City Manager Steve Burkett said then.
Robert J. Bryan, U. S. District judge, last week denied a motion by the city to provide summary judgment, which would have prevented the case from proceeding to jury trial.
If the motion had been granted, Bryan would have considered the facts and declared the outcome of the case without jury input — with the option of dismissing it.
“At this point, nobody won or lost,” Ritchie said.
“You do summary judgment motions to try and resolve things before trial — issues as well as maybe the whole case. Sometimes you can; sometimes you can’t.”
The city is represented by the Washington Cities Insurance Authority — a self-insured municipal risk pool.
In its request for summary judgment, the city cited state law in saying Weimer’s claims should be dismissed.
“If after notice of an intention to arrest [a person], he or she flees or forcibly resists, the officer may use all necessary force to effect the arrest,” the city said.
However, “the precise moment, if any, that Officer Dennis’ use of force was objectively unreasonable is an issue of material fact to be resolved [by] a jury,” Bryan wrote in the court order, denying the city’s motion.
Weimer and Black said they are excited the case will proceed.
“It is a win for us,” Black told the Peninsula Daily News on Thursday afternoon.
“Essentially, the judge has said Weimer is going to get his day in [court] in front of a jury.”
The incident happened after an altercation inside the bar between Weimer and another patron.
A cellphone video taken by a witness shows Dennis punching Weimer three times while Officers Rick Larsen and Maris Turner hold him face-down in a concrete planter box outside the front door. A fourth officer holds back onlookers.
The three officers remain employed by the Police Department, Deputy Chief Sheri Crain said Friday.
Officers drove Weimer home after the incident because he told them his son was there alone.
They returned later and left a ticket for resisting arrest and fourth-degree assault in the mailbox outside his front door.
Weimer pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. He paid a $100 fine and $150 in court costs and did eight hours of community service.
Days after the incident, Police Chief Bill Dickinson defended his officers’ actions, saying they were trying to handcuff the man and remove him from the scene.
In a letter to Weimer cited by the court, Dickinson said, “The officers’s actions . . . were consistent with their training, the department’s policies and the laws of the state of Washington.”
Said Black: Dennis “used unreasonable force to arrest” Weimer and “Chief Dickinson approved that as his policy — that sort of behavior and conduct.”
Dickinson, who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, was unavailable for comment Friday because he is on vacation.
Dickinson has previously said another video captured by Oasis security cameras showed Weimer resisting arrest as officers took him out of the bar.
Weimer said the officers observed him “moving his elbow to distance himself from other patrons, who had taunted and bumped up against [him] and a friend,” according to the court order issued Wednesday.
Weimer said Dennis approached him and asked him to come outside and talk to police, to which Weimer said that he responded with “No problem, officer.”
Weimer said that as he was walking outside, Dennis pushed him “out the door and into a planter box.”
Dickinson said the bar’s security camera video shows Weimer’s hands reaching for the gun and stun gun of one of the officers.
Weimer said he was only trying to hold on to the officer to keep from falling.
Weimer said also he was not resisting arrest. He said he did not give officers his arm to be handcuffed because it was pinned under him as he lay face-down in the planter box.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
