Police Misconduct
Massachusetts Police Misconduct Attorney
As a Boston criminal defense lawyer, Attorney Joun has handled many cases involving police misconduct such as:
- False arrests;
- Falsified or manufactured evidence;
- Coerced confessions;
- Malicious prosecutions;
- Illegal strip searches;
- Illegal searches and seizures of homes, cars and persons;
- Use of excessive and unreasonable force;
- Police brutality;
- Retaliation for the exercise of First Amendment rights; and
- Other acts of police and government misconduct.
As a Massachusetts civil rights lawyer, Attorney Joun has brought civil lawsuits in the Federal District Courts and State Superior Courts on behalf of victims of police abuse. Many criminal defense lawyers refer their clients to Attorney Joun. Representative cases that Attorney Joun has worked on include:
- Nuon v. City of Lowell,___ F.Supp.2d___, 2011 WL 781532 (D.Mass. 2011) (Granting summary judgment on liability for plaintiff on his §1983 Fourth Amendment claim of false arrest, Massachusetts Civil Rights Act and state tort of false imprisonment).
- Limone v. United States,___ F.Supp.2d___ (D.Mass. 2007) (Bench verdict of more than $101 million); 336 F. Supp. 2d 18 (D.Mass. 2004) (Denying federal government’s motion to dismiss case for claims that the FBI framed four innocent men for a murder they did not commit which resulted in their wrongful convictions).
- Howes v. Chesley, 20 Mass.L.Rptr. 350 (Suffolk Superior Ct. 2005) (Denying summary judgment for defendants who conducted suspicionless strip search of arrestee).
- Nilsen v. York County, 382 F.Supp.2d 206 (D.Me. 2005) and 400 F.Supp.2d 265 (D.Me. 2005) (Approving $3.3 million settlement for a class of approximately 3,600 people who were unlawfully strip searched); 400 F.Supp.2d 266 (D.Me. 2005) (Awarding attorneys’ fees).
- Shedlock v. Department of Correction, 442 Mass. 844 (2004) (Reversing award of summary judgment to defendants on plaintiff’s claim that defendants failed to provide reasonable accommodation for his disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and Article 114 of the Massachusetts Constitution).
- Miller v. City of Boston, 297 F.Supp.2d 361 (D.Mass. 2003) (Denying defendants’ motion to dismiss case brought by a man who served more than 10 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.) The case settled for more than $3 million.
- Norris v. Murphy, 2003 WL 21488640 (D.Mass. 2003) (Granting motion in limine to preclude testimony at trial of the defense expert for failure to comply with Rule 26(a)(2)(B)); 287 F.Supp.2d 111 (D. Mass. 2003) (Awarding attorney’s fees after a nominal damages verdict in a false arrest in retaliation of First Amendment case).
- Ford v. Suffolk County, 154 F. Supp. 2d 131 (D.Mass. 2001) (Granting summary judgment on declaratory relief and liability for women who were strip searched while being held pre-arraignment at a jail); Mack v. Suffolk County, 191 F.R.D. 16 (D.Mass. 2000) (Certifying a class under F.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(2) and (3) for women who were strip searched at the Suffolk County jail based on a blanket strip search policy). The case settled for $10 million with the City of Boston and Suffolk County paying $5 million each.
Criminal defense lawyers frequently consult with Attorney Joun regarding issues that arise at the intersection of an open criminal case with a potential police misconduct civil rights lawsuit such as:
- Whether and when a citizen’s complaint should be filed to initiate an internal investigation by a police department;
- How to obtain an arresting officer’s history of violence to effectively build a self-defense claim in cases where a client has been charged with assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest;
- How to document evidence in a criminal case that could be used in a later civil lawsuit;
- Whether a criminal defendant should agree to a waiver of civil suit in exchange for a criminal disposition.
(617) 304-6186