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A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that two Cleveland police officers accused of slamming Juan Ortiz (pictured above) into a car may have used too much force.
(Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that a Cleveland police officer may have used excessive force in slamming a teenager with Down syndrome against a car when apprehending him as a possible robbery suspect in 2010.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Brian Kazimer, the officer who used force, and Dan Crisan, the officer who did not intervene, are not immune from claims brought by the family of Juan Ortiz. At the time, Ortiz was 16 years old, less than 5 feet tall and weighed about 118 pounds, and Kazimer held him on the hood of the car for 15 minutes, court filings say.
The opinion, written by Judge Jeffrey Sutton, wrote that precedent states that an officer uses excessive force if he or she slams a non-violent suspect against a vehicle.
"Kazimer as it happens cites no case law to the contrary," Sutton wrote. "If what the eyewitnesses say is true, he used excessive force."
The 6th Circuit's ruling sends Ortiz's lawsuit, filed in 2011, back to federal court in Cleveland for trial. U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells, who has retired, ruled the same way in March.
Wells, in her opinion, wrote that Kazimer had probable cause to stop Ortiz near Lorain Avenue and West 143rd Street on Aug. 16, 2010, since Ortiz ran when he saw the officer and matched the description of a person believed to be connected to an armed robbery.
The 6th Circuit, in its opinion, shot down many arguments that attorneys for the officers made for using force.
The court also wrote that "it is well to remember that the officers may not have done anything wrong.
"They may have diligently pursued an armed-robbery suspect, used a reasonable amount of force in a chaotic situation to detain him, and eased up seconds later once they found out he did not commit the robbery," Sutton wrote. "That's exactly what their testimony suggests, and they will have the chance to give their version of events to a jury."
The city declined to comment on Thursday's ruling.
Following the incident, Ortiz filed a complaint with the city's Office of Professional Standards, which investigates police misconduct. The Police Review Board "sustained" Ortiz' complaint and recommended that then-Chief Michael McGrath discipline Kazimer and Crisan. However, neither were disciplined.
This is because the city had a policy at the time of waiting until a court proceeding is finished before it made a decision on whether to impose discipline, the city said in March.
That policy has since changed, though the old policy is still being followed for this case because it happened before the change.
Subodh Chandra, the Ortiz family attorney, praised Thursday's ruling. He said the family is still waiting for the officers to be held accountable and that they "are being permitted to inflict themselves on the population."
The case was one of many referenced in a U.S. Department of Justice report that criticizes Cleveland police over its use-of-force policies and practices. The report led to a settlement between the city and the Justice Department in May.