Athena
April 4th, 2008, 06:38 PM
Sober man arrested for DUI sues
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- A Corvallis man wrongly arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants has filed a lawsuit against the city and a former police officer, seeking an unspecified amount of money for false arrest and civil rights violations.
Brian Noakes, 23, was arrested last June near the Oregon State University campus. Former officer Dave Cox suspected marijuana use because the driver's eyes were glazed and bloodshot.
A breath test at the county jail showed that Noakes had no alcohol in his system and a urine sample sent to the state police crime lab came back negative for drugs. The district attorney declined to prosecute.
The lawsuit claims the city was negligent by failing to properly supervise Cox, despite a string of similar unjustified DUI arrests.
"Brian Noakes was not an isolated incident," said Dan Rayfield, the Albany attorney representing the Noakeses.
The suit cites three earlier cases in which Cox arrested drivers on charges of DUI-drugs: Joshua Sauter, arrested in March 2004; Eric Stavale, arrested in August 2004; and Carl Feher, arrested in June 2006.
In his six years with the Corvallis Police Department, Cox made hundreds of DUI arrests and won a statewide award for his vigorous enforcement of drunken driving laws.
But Cox resigned Nov. 1 after an internal investigation concluded he unlawfully arrested Noakes and improperly threatened his wife. The officer has since left the state.
Full article (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/357758_soberdriver05.html?source=rss)
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False DUI arrests are not terribly uncommon. Was this particular cop simply hyper-aggressive and the incidents isolated to him, or has he gotten rolled under the bus for following the encouragement and training given to him by the department and state, because it resulted in a few false arrests?
Either way, in OR, these arrests cannot be removed from your record, so, even though charges were dropped, documentation of the arrest forever remains. That sucks for these guys.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- A Corvallis man wrongly arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants has filed a lawsuit against the city and a former police officer, seeking an unspecified amount of money for false arrest and civil rights violations.
Brian Noakes, 23, was arrested last June near the Oregon State University campus. Former officer Dave Cox suspected marijuana use because the driver's eyes were glazed and bloodshot.
A breath test at the county jail showed that Noakes had no alcohol in his system and a urine sample sent to the state police crime lab came back negative for drugs. The district attorney declined to prosecute.
The lawsuit claims the city was negligent by failing to properly supervise Cox, despite a string of similar unjustified DUI arrests.
"Brian Noakes was not an isolated incident," said Dan Rayfield, the Albany attorney representing the Noakeses.
The suit cites three earlier cases in which Cox arrested drivers on charges of DUI-drugs: Joshua Sauter, arrested in March 2004; Eric Stavale, arrested in August 2004; and Carl Feher, arrested in June 2006.
In his six years with the Corvallis Police Department, Cox made hundreds of DUI arrests and won a statewide award for his vigorous enforcement of drunken driving laws.
But Cox resigned Nov. 1 after an internal investigation concluded he unlawfully arrested Noakes and improperly threatened his wife. The officer has since left the state.
Full article (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/357758_soberdriver05.html?source=rss)
_____________
False DUI arrests are not terribly uncommon. Was this particular cop simply hyper-aggressive and the incidents isolated to him, or has he gotten rolled under the bus for following the encouragement and training given to him by the department and state, because it resulted in a few false arrests?
Either way, in OR, these arrests cannot be removed from your record, so, even though charges were dropped, documentation of the arrest forever remains. That sucks for these guys.