Friday, July 18, 2014

Lawsuit response- Joplin Police did not abuse Russells after family member's suicide

Joplin Police Officer Austin Wolf pepper-sprayed Kevin and Brant Russell and the JPD and he and fellow officer Tyler Christiansen arrested the men, but in a response filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri to the Russells' lawsuit, all other charges were denied.

Kevin Russell, his wife, Julissa, and son Brant filed an amended lawsuit against the City of Joplin, Wolf, and Christiasen July 8.

The Russells alleged they were mistreated by the police officers after they found 16-year-old Brooke Russell, Kevin and Julissa's daughter and Brant's sister, in a park suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound March 17, 2013.

In his response, the City of Joplin's attorney Karl Blanchard asked for a jury trial and said the city would be asserting the affirmative defense of  sovereign immunity.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

did the document state why the two Russell men were pepper sprayed and arrested? I find it hard to believe it was for no reason whatsoever given the tragedy of what happened although I'm no fan of Joplin Police.

Anonymous said...

Sovereign immunity = opps we did it again.
To bad so sad.

Anonymous said...

Sovereign immunity = opps we did it again.
To bad so sad.

Anonymous said...

Sovereign immunity= we think we can do whatever to whomever we want. We're the police and we have authority over you.

Anonymous said...

Sovereign immunity. There's no such thing as a mistake, just a settlement.

Anonymous said...

I don't find it hard to believe the JPD pepper sprayed and arrested the two men for no reason. They are bullies with a badge and anybody who doesn't practically genuflect in their presence is "resisting arrest." The fact that the special prosecutor declined to prosecute speaks volumes.

Anonymous said...

In the old days it would have been flashlights instead of pepper spray. Some things never change. The police need court ordered oversite.

Anonymous said...

So bad parenting + attacking first responders = jackpot payment? Sad.

Anonymous said...

Suicide is not a result of bad parenting and being agitated would be a normal reaction to 1st responders allowing your dying daughter to fall off the gurney onto the concrete while they act like Barney Fife.

Interrogating the family before caring for the victim = bad judgement in terms of wrong time and place.