Handcuffs hurt man's psyche, jurors found Courts: Punitive damages add $10,000 to Garden Grove business owner's $1 million judgment.

July 20, 2000

By CHARLES ADAMSON The Orange County Register

Orange County jurors who awarded $1 million to a Garden Grove auto body-shop owner, handcuffed by police who came to arrest his son, said he suffered emotional problems he will never get over.

"It deflated him as a man," said jury forewoman Kathleen Mahoney of Santa Ana.

The jury awarded Merrit L. Sharp $1 million in compensatory damages Tuesday and $10,000 in punitive damages Wednesday against state parole officer Joe Esquivel.

The case stems from a 1997 police raid on Sharp's Garden Grove body shop.

Police arrested Sharp's son on a parole violation for drug use, an action Sharp didn't dispute.

Sharp was charged with nothing but was handcuffed at the scene.

He claimed he was left face down on the cement for 45 minutes. He never sought medical attention.

"The man didn't go to a doctor. That was just his personality," Mahoney said.

Sharp, an ex-Marine, claims the incident caused nightmares and a feeling of betrayal by the police.

The million-dollar verdict is to be paid by the state and Garden Grove.

Robert Helfand, the parole officer's attorney, said $1 million for being handcuffed was ridiculous.

"I've never heard that we need to make people comfortable when they are detained," he said.

Mahoney said of some of the police and parole witnesses, "We the jury felt that people were not honest.

"When stories keep changing, it makes it very hard to believe people."

Lawyers for the city and the state said they have asked Judge Derrick Hunt to reduce the award or order a new trial.

The attorney representing Garden Grove police, Steven Sherman, warned that, if the jury's decision is upheld, it could lead to cities not allowing their police officers to assist other agencies for fear of liability.

-- cin (cin@cin.cin), July 24, 2000

Answers

"I've never heard that we need to make people comfortable when they are detained."

DUH. The guy was *wrongfully* detained and comfort isn't the issue here.

The attorney representing Garden Grove police, Steven Sherman, warned that, if the jury's decision is upheld, it could lead to cities not allowing their police officers to assist other agencies for fear of liability.

Too bad Mr. Sherman didn't consider a solution that includes better *training* for the police with an emphasis on respecting civil liberties.

-- LunaC (Don'tTieMeDown@Innocent.com), July 24, 2000.

Luna:

I guess I'm not as forgiving as you. The guy was charged with violation of his parole, as in "did something wrong before, and hasn't cleaned up his act."

I hear these types of stories from my kids. Just last week I heard about a guy who had police come to his door with a warrant for an illegal weapon. This is a guy who once shared a house with my daughter and some others. I said, "He has a gun?" My daughter said that he didn't have the gun, but they found a POUND of Marijuana and took it. Since they didn't have a warrant for the Marijuana, they couldn't charge him with anything. I said, "A POUND? What does a POUND go for these days?" My daughter didn't know, but suggested perhaps $700.00.

As someone who has spent a few years smoking Marijuana, I just couldn't imagine a POUND being used for personal consumption. Like most natural products, Marijuana goes "stale" after a while without refrigeration. This guy lived with my daughter's current roommate for almost a year paying no rent. How exactly did he support himself? [He moved out about a month after my daughter moved in.] The puzzle pieces are fitting in MY mind.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), July 24, 2000.

Actually Anita, it was the suspect's father who was not charged, but hand-cuffed and left face-down for 45 minutes. Im torn about this story. A million bucks seems a bit extreme to me. Yet if he wasn't guilty of any crime, he shouldn't have been detained in such a manner.

-- cin (cin@cin.cin), July 24, 2000.

Anita - Cin is correct. The guy who won the judgement was an nothing more than an innocent bystander when the police came to arrest his son. He didn't dispute the charges against his son and did nothing to warrant being handcuffed and thrown on the ground.

Imagine how pissed you'd be if you were at the house where the marijuana was being stashed and *you* were unlawfully detained just because you innocently stopped by at tea time when the cops arrived. Or better yet, wouldn't you raise holy hell if your daughter was there and was wrongfully manhandled by the police?

-- LunaC (Civil@Rights.com), July 24, 2000.

$700.00 a pound? Maybe in the 70s. Today a pound of good smoke is $2,000.00 - $3,000.00.

-- (old@pot.head), July 24, 2000.

For good sinsemilla, I'd double that. Ounce for ounce, it can be more valuable than gold.

-- GotSeeds? (Puffffff@TheMagicDragon.com), July 24, 2000.

You girls are right. My reading skills are failing me at this hour, and it isn't even that late. [Must be age-related.]

Pot-head: I figured that was an under-estimation, myself, but I was pretty grateful that my daughter didn't know the true market value today. A POUND is a LOT of smoke.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), July 24, 2000.