Judge dismisses City of Cedar Rapids from excessive force lawsuit against police officers

CEDAR RAPIDS - A federal judge ruled the City of Cedar Rapids cannot be held liable for alleged unconstitutional actions of two police officers being sued by a man who claimed they arrested the wrong man and used 'excessive force” in the process, twisting his arm and tearing his rotator cuff.

U.S. District Senior Judge Edward J. McManus granted part of a motion for summary judgment in the pending suit on Tuesday in favor of the city, ruling the city can't be held liable under federal law for its employees' alleged acts, and the city will be dismissed from the suit.

McManus, however, denied summary judgment regarding the two police officers, Grant Rasmussen and Bruce Payne, saying it will be left up to a jury to determine if their actions were excessive, if they had probable cause for arrest and if the officers acted reasonably under the circumstances. The ruling allows this part of the lawsuit to go forward to trial. No trial date has been set at this time.

In the lawsuit, filed last year, Patrick James Sr., 45, claims the officers came to his home Jan. 29, 2014 to arrest his son, Patrick James Jr., 20, on an outstanding warrant, but mistakenly arrested him because they asked his daughter for 'Patrick James,” not specifying junior or senior.

When James Sr. came to the front door, the officers told him he was under arrest and 'forcefully” grabbed his arms, twisting one arm as they placed him in handcuffs, according to the lawsuit. The shoulder injury required treatment and surgery. James Sr. asked the officers to clarify who they wanted, and Rasmussen and Payne said Patrick James Jr., which the warrant listed as a 20-year-old with brown hair, as opposed to James Sr., who is 45 and has gray hair, the suit claims.

Greg Buelow, Cedar Rapids public safety spokesman, said Wednesday as a matter of policy, the city doesn't comment on ongoing or potential litigation.

'We understand and accept the court's ruling dismissing the city and are pleased to proceed to trial where a jury will determine our constitutional violation claims against the individual officers,” James Sr.'s lawyer, David O'Brien of Cedar Rapids, said Wednesday.

In the ruling, McManus said there is evidence on both sides for a jury to determine if the force used by officers to handcuff James Sr. was excessive or not, 'given the forceful handcuffing and extent of the resulting injury.”

Regarding the probable cause for arrest, the officers argued in the motion for summary judgment that they asked Leah James, Patrick James' daughter, who answered the door, for 'Patrick James,” and when he arrived they had no reason to believe it wasn't the correct person.

In his argument, James Sr. said the warrant identified the suspect as a 20-year old man and there was a picture of the man, the ruling states. Payne admitted in his deposition that he hadn't thoroughly reviewed the warrant information before cuffing James Sr. McManus said this creates a question of fact for the jury to determine if the officers acted 'sufficiently diligently and reasonably” in conducting and concluding their investigation that led to them to believe they had probable cause to arrest

The other question for the jury to decide is if the officers had qualified immunity, which protects police officers from liability for civil damages, as long as their actions are reasonable and they haven't violated any constitutional rights, according to the ruling. The officers argue there is no dispute, because they stopped the arrest as soon as they discovered James Sr. was the wrong person.

McManus said there is still a question of whether the officers acted reasonably in the first place, because the warrant information they had contained a description and picture of James Jr.