Shirley Brown reflects on the death of her son Rodney after a traffic stop with Cleveland police
Shirley Brown, center, is suing the city of Cleveland and several police officers, in the death of her son, Rodney. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that large parts of her suit can proceed.
(Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND, Ohio – A federal judge will allow large parts of a lawsuit to move forward in a case filed against Cleveland police by the family of a man who died in police custody following a traffic stop in 2010.
The lawsuit, which was filed in 2011 in the wake of Rodney Brown's death after he was restrained with handcuffs and put in a patrol car, has been in limbo for more than a year, as attorneys on both sides have been awaiting Senior Judge Lesley Wells' ruling on a motion filed by the city of Cleveland to dismiss the case.
In an opinion and order issued Tuesday, Wells wrote that there was enough evidence to proceed on several claims, including wrongful death, assault and battery and the use of excessive force. She also wrote the city and the officers are not immune from being held liable for damages in the case.
"There is evidence to show that Officer [Michael] Chapman delivered a blow to the back of Mr. Brown's neck with little or no provocation," Wells wrote. "Further, there is evidence to show that [officers] failed to act in spite of knowledge of the existence of a substantial risk of serious harm to Mr. Brown after he had been placed in the back of the police car."
Brown died on Dec. 31, 2010. Chapman and Belal Ilain pulled him over and said he was driving with his headlights turned off.
The officers said Brown would not provide identification when asked and believed that Brown was drunk. They told him to get out of the car, and "the officers assert that he did so in an aggressive and threatening manner," Wells wrote.
After the blow to the neck, the officers said Brown resisted. Police repeatedly shot him with a Taser, yet Brown could not be subdued. At one point, Brown took out a knife and struck Ilian with it, Wells wrote.
When police were finally able to cuff Brown, he told the officers that he was having trouble breathing. After hearing Brown's plea, Patrolman Erick Melendez, who responded along with other officers called for backup, is captured on police radio responding, "So. Who gives a f---?" to Brown saying "I can't breathe."
Brown died of a "cardiopulmonary arrest following physical exertion during law enforcement activity," according to the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office, and his death was ruled a homicide.
In her order, Wells said the city could be held liable if a jury found that Chapman used excessive force when he elbowed Brown in the back of the neck.
"Mr. Brown did not present an immediate risk to officer safety, and the crimes of which he was suspected at that time were relatively minor," Wells wrote.
However, she struck down claims made by Brown's family that the police did not have probable cause to stop Brown. She also dismissed the plaintiffs' claim that the officers' use of the Taser constituted excessive force.
"It appears that the first taser deployment had little, if any, effect on the decedent," Wells wrote. "According to the plaintiff's declarations, the decedent leaned forward, said 'ow,' and ran away."
Attorney David Malik, who is representing Brown's mother, Shirley, in the lawsuit, said he is pleased with the judge's decision, since several substantial claims were allowed to proceed.
"Everything that survived allows us to tell the complete story," Malik said. "We're pleased."
A city spokesman did not immediately return a message late Tuesday.
The officers were not charged in Brown's death and were not disciplined.
Malik and the other attorneys representing Brown's family want the case to lead to change at Cleveland Police, especially in light of the U.S. Department of Justice's strong findings, which says Cleveland officers have a pattern of using excessive force when dealing with citizens.
Malik said Tuesday that Wells' opinion is "consistent" with the Justice Department's findings.