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Prof has 25k suit against Palouse |
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Written by cougster1
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Tuesday, 11 November 2008 |
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WSU Professor and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies at the School of Biological Sciences Charlotte Omoto has a suit against the City of Palouse for $25,000. The suit comes from an incident where an Palouse allegedly police officer roughed up the 57 year-old Professor Omoto.
From The-Boomerang.com:
Palouse officer Brian Dentler threw (Omoto) the gravel while - outside the city limits - she walked a leashed Labrador retriever and its three unleashed seven week old puppies.
Whitman County Deputy Prosecutor dismissed the charges against Omoto within five days citing State v. Barnes (1999) which held that “an unlawful detention is by definition not part of lawful police duties.”
Considering the confrontation which resulted in scalp lacerations requiring emergency room treatment for Omoto had taken place outside the city limits and was “not part of a lawful police duties,” the 20-year Palouse resident took legal action of her own and filed a $25,000 tort claim against the City September 10. If no settlement is reached within 90 days, the claim may be refiled as a lawsuit against Palouse. According to her attorney Michael Pettit, no decision has yet been made whether to file criminal assault charges against Dentler.
An obstruction of Justice charge is often a “cover charge” when police having nothing else to justify and arrest with.
Officer Dentler was an officer with the Pullman Police Department but may have been terminated because of conduct issues.
Read part one of this two part story on The-Boomerang.com
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