ANTIOCH — The city has agreed to pay several residents, including a former San Francisco police inspector, $750,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Marvetia Lynn Richardson sued Antioch in U.S. District Court in July 2008, arguing that Antioch officers illegally broke into her house on Mokelumne Drive in June 2007, shocked her with a Taser after a dispute with a tenant she was evicting, and took her to jail on suspicion of resisting arrest.
LaToya Norman, Samona Nelson-Culip and Lamona Nelson also were plaintiffs in the suit.
Antioch denied any wrongdoing in court documents, asserting that police had probable cause to enter Richardson’s house and did not use excessive force in making an arrest.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said in a July 13 decision on whether to dismiss parts of the case before trial that the officers’ entry into the house was unconstitutional. Antioch was appealing before the settlement agreement.
The lawsuit also contended that the incident represented an effort by Antioch police to harass African-American residents and drive them out of certain neighborhoods, a charge the city also denies.
Attorneys for Richardson and Antioch declined to comment on the settlement, which prohibits them from discussing the terms.
The decision to settle a case is often made by joint risk pools for public agencies, rather than the defendant itself — particularly when significant attorneys’ fees are included, City Attorney Lynn Tracy Nerland said in a written statement. Antioch disclosed the settlement agreement in response to a public records request.
“Such settlements reflect economic realities rather than any change of position or belief on the part of the defendant,” she said.
Police were called to Richardson’s home after midnight June 7, 2007, by Bridget Reed, who was renting rooms for herself and teenage daughter and was in the process of being evicted. Reed had called 911 to complain about noise; Richardson was at home entertaining Norman and Nelson-Culip and their children.
After talking to Richardson inside the house, the officers were outside when they heard screams and loud sounds indicating a struggle, according to court documents.
Reed and her daughter ran outside, saying that the teen daughter of one of Richardson’s guests had threatened to shoot them.
Richardson said that officers broke down her front door and confronted her as she stood in her bedroom doorway. She was calmly answering officers’ questions when she was suddenly shocked with a Taser, according to the suit.
Norman, Nelson-Culip and Nelson-Culip’s daughter, then 14, were also arrested. Lamona Nelson represented her sister in the lawsuit.
The charges were dismissed in 2008, said Quinton Cutlip, Richardson’s civil attorney.
Richardson is scheduled to appear in Contra Costa Superior Court in Pittsburg at 8 a.m. Monday to petition the court to find that she was factually innocent.
“She wants it erased so it’s as if it never happened. She is and has been the victim,” said Matt Fregi, Richardson’s criminal attorney, who did not represent her in the lawsuit.
A lawsuit by Richardson in San Francisco County Superior Court arguing that she was wrongfully fired, in part because of the Antioch incident, is ongoing.
Staff writer Malaika Fraley contributed to this report. Contact Paul Burgarino at 925-779-7164.
