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What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations

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  • 08-08-2012, 02:30 PM
    mindful
    What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations
    My question involves civil rights in the State of: California, but currently in a Federal Court

    So I received some discovery from the defense in my case (my case involves me Civil Rights being violated by police officers). The letter is an internal investigation by the County where I believed I was wrongfully arrested and detained. The letter was done by an outside contractor, but he was brought in and paid by them to do the investigation. The investigator, after reviewing all the facts, came to the same conclusion, that there was no basis behind arresting me, confirming my case. However, the investigation was stopped after he came to his conclusion.

    My question is, is there some kind of duty of public interest that this investigation should have proceeded in order to prevent this from occurring in the future? My other discovery of interrogatories confirms that no further investigation took place with the officers on the scene, as they say it didn't. I am just looking for something that would reference the need for the County to proceed with the investigation when the findings clearly state that the officers were wrong. The officers were never even questioned and it is suspicious that they would bring someone in, pay them to do a partial investigation, and when they didn't like the answer, they ended it.
  • 08-08-2012, 02:50 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations
    You just told us that the investigation occurred, so it's fair to say that it proceeded. We don't know the facts, or how the results of the investigation might prevent future occurrences of problems similar to yours, but I would expect that the unit of government would attempt to avoid future problems.
  • 08-08-2012, 11:16 PM
    mindful
    Re: What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations
    I know for a fact that it didn't proceed because I have discovery responses from the officers stating they were never questioned. I am looking for a case, law or at least an example of an entity getting in trouble for not investigating further once they found there was a problem.

    The officers involved didn't even know there was an investigation. It happened about 8 months ago and I received the responses last week.
  • 08-08-2012, 11:38 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations
    If you are wondering if you can sue the entity for additional damages due to their not taking what you believe to be adequate corrective measures after-the-fact, no you cannot. Their subsequent actions are not relevant to what happened on the prior occasion.

    If you want to search for case law on one point or another, try Google Scholar.
  • 08-09-2012, 05:41 AM
    free9man
    Re: What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations
    The purpose of the investigation was to determine if you were wrongfully arrested and detained. The investigator, after reviewing the facts such as statements and reports, came to the conclusion that you were wrongfully arrested and detained. Thus, there was no need to continue investigating. The investigator apparently was able to reach that conclusion without interviewing the officers involved in person. If so, there was absolutely no need to interview them. Could the investigator have done so anyway? Sure but they didn't need to so why waste further time/money when the goal was accomplished?

    If the department chooses to take no further action, it is on them. It could create liability on their part should the officers screw up again. You can't force them to do anything about it. You could try reporting the situation to whatever body certifies law enforcement officers in your state but that may not get anything doen.

    What is it you wish to happen?
  • 08-09-2012, 06:38 PM
    mindful
    Re: What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations
    Thanks guys. I appreciate the link to google scholar, I think that will come in very handy in the future.

    As far as what I want to happen, really I just wanted to know if they had a duty to the public they serve to investigate situations such as this if it is clearly shown they did something wrong. Seems like a legitimate request from a tax payer that if they find out something is wrong with the way a citizen was prosecuted, it would be mandatory they follow up with disciplinary action (something I would not get access to without a court order) or at least an investigation where they are questioned about the actions they took.
  • 08-09-2012, 07:14 PM
    cdwjava
    Re: What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations
    Did you make a formal complaint to the agency? It kinda sounds like you did since you got some sort of a letter, but it's not entirely clear.

    By law, about all you will can be provided about the results of an internal investigation is the very general findings such as the complaint was "substantiated." An indication that discipline might also be included, but the specific form of discipline is often NOT for public consumption.

    There is no legal mandate in CA to discipline an officer who was found to have committed some act of wrongdoing. The obligation is only to investigate any complaints made, but no effort is made to describe as to what lengths such an investigation MUST travel.

    As mentioned, if the investigator was able to conclude that there was no good cause for your arrest without interviewing the world, great! But, also keep in mind that you cannot be privy to any discipline applied - if any.

    You are certainly free to contact the agency and see what the status of your complaint is, and you can always speak to an attorney to see if your situation is one that might allow for compensation.
  • 08-09-2012, 07:43 PM
    jk
    Re: What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations
    =mindful;641228]

    Quote:

    As far as what I want to happen, really I just wanted to know if they had a duty to the public they serve to investigate situations such as this if it is clearly shown they did something wrong.
    what aren't you understanding? They investigated and came to a conclusion. Just what would you expect the investigator to do after that?

    Quote:

    it is suspicious that they would bring someone in, pay them to do a partial investigation, and when they didn't like the answer, they ended it.
    of course they ended it. They came to this conclusion:

    Quote:

    The investigator, after reviewing all the facts, came to the same conclusion, that there was no basis behind arresting me, confirming my case
    that is what they were hired to investigate, yes?

    Why would they continue an investigation once they reached a conclusion?
  • 08-09-2012, 08:13 PM
    free9man
    Re: What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations
    Quote:

    Quoting cdwjava
    View Post
    You are certainly free to contact the agency and see what the status of your complaint is, and you can always speak to an attorney to see if your situation is one that might allow for compensation.

    OP's first post seems to indicate they are already in litigation over this matter, possibly pro se.
  • 08-09-2012, 09:11 PM
    cdwjava
    Re: What Duty to Governments Have to Prevent Future Civil Rights Violations
    Quote:

    Quoting free9man
    View Post
    OP's first post seems to indicate they are already in litigation over this matter, possibly pro se.

    I think you're right. And, if there is litigation, that may have prompted the agency to cease any further action until after the litigation has been resolved.
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