Man claims county tried to waive his right to sue for deputy using excessive force
A Victorville man who was videotaped being kicked twice in the head by a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy as he surrendered said jailers pressured him into accepting $4,000 and signing a waiver in which he promised not to sue the county for excessive force.
Willie C. Jones III, 33, a diesel mechanic, made the statement in a claim filed against the county Thursday that seeks $5 million. He repeated the story at a news conference at the office of his attorney in Riverside on Friday.
Jones was handed the document in an interrogation room after his arrest at the end of a pursuit on June 16 and after his release from a hospital, said his attorney, Zulu Ali.
Jones said he had not yet posted bail and signed the release without his attorney present and without an understanding of what it said.
Ali said Jones was knocked unconscious by the kicks and was still confused and groggy when he was “coerced” into signing the release.
“That’s almost as bad as the assault itself,” Ali said.
Jones said he has not cashed the check. Jones has not yet been charged with a crime, Superior Court records show.
County spokeswoman Felisa Cardona declined Friday to comment on the claim, which is a legally required precursor to a lawsuit, or the release that Jones said he signed. A request for a copy of the blank form from the county went unfilled Friday. Ali declined to provide a copy of the release that Jones signed.
Sharon Brunner, a Victorville civil rights attorney who has represented clients who said they were victims of excessive force by the Sheriff’s Department, said the county has been trying to get potential litigants to sign the releases for more than a year in an attempt to keep cases out of court, where juries could award plaintiffs hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
Twice, Brunner said, detectives have approached her clients with the releases as they were lying in hospital beds after they were shot and were under the influence of pain medications. Both clients signed the releases. Still, both cases are in litigation, Brunner said.
Brunner said the county has never tried to use the signed releases to prevent her from suing.
“This appears to be a new trend that in my experience San Bernardino County is engaging in. It’s highly inappropriate and highly unethical and it’s generally done when clients are at their most vulnerable,” said Brunner, who is not involved in the Jones case. “To ask Mr. Jones to sign a release when he hasn’t gone to an attorney or doctor, that just reeks of undue influence and intimidation.”
Brunner and co-counsel Jim Terrell won a $650,000 settlement from the county in 2015, less than two weeks after 10 deputies were videotaped hitting and kicking horse thief suspect Francis Jared Pusok in Apple Valley. One legal expert called the speed of the settlement “unheard of.” But in that case, Brunner said Friday, Pusok had the opportunity to first discuss the settlement with his attorneys and have a doctor determine that he suffered no injuries that would require long-term care.
Jones was riding his motorcycle at about 12:40 a.m. on June 16 when a deputy attempted to pull him over for committing a traffic violation. Jones did not stop, prompting a pursuit during which he ran red lights and drove north in the southbound lanes of the 15 Freeway, a sheriff’s news release said.
Jones ditched his motorcycle and fled into the parking lot of a Toyota dealership. There, a security videotape shows Jones emerging from beneath a car and eventually walking toward a deputy with his hands up. As Jones lay down on his stomach, his left arm out and his right arm folded beneath him, the deputy approaches and kicks him twice in the head.
“It pains me every time I see it,” said Jones, who added that he has headaches and difficulty eating and sleeping.
Jones declined to say Friday why, according to the news release, he didn’t pull over.
The Sheriff’s Department began criminal and internal investigations into the deputy, Corie Smith, who was placed on paid leave. Sheriff John McMahon, in a written statement, said “This incident raises concerns. I expect my deputies to remain professional while engaging the public.”
Ali called for a change in the culture in law enforcement that results in excessive force, starting with agencies’ leadership.
“Mr. Jones wants me to help him get justice. I made a promise to him that we’re going to go further than that. We want justice period. Not just for him, but we want justice for anybody and everybody who has experienced this type of situation,” Ali said.