Jury favors Tosa officer in federal lawsuit
Teen was handcuffed during 2018 stop
A Wauwatosa Police Officer didn’t violate the Fourth Amendment rights of a teenager, his grandmother and her friend when they were pulled over when someone else reported armed robbery in their vehicle, a federal jury ruled Tuesday.
A seven-person jury deliberated 30 minutes during a two-day trial and delivered a verdict in favor of the officer.
The incident occurred on Sept. 2, 2018. Around noon, Wauwatosa police Officer Patrick Kaine received a report from a citizen a Black man in the backseat of a blue Lexus sedan was robbing two elderly white women.
Kaine located the vehicle with three occupants at a nearby stoplight.
Inside were the driver, Sandra Adams, and the front-seat passenger, Paulette Barr. Both are white. The backseat passenger was Akil Carter, who is Black and also is Barr’s grandson. Barr and Adams had just picked up Carter from his father’s home and were on their way to a Culver’s restaurant.
Kaine received the robbery report, located the vehicle and pulled it over.
After five minutes, Kaine ordered Carter out of the car with his hands up and ordered him to walk backwards toward the squad car. Carter was handcuffed for five minutes, but ultimately was released after officers on scene learned Carter is Barr’s grandson.
The trio then sued Kaine, the city of Wauwatosa, two additional officers who were at the scene and the former police chief. U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller later dropped the city, the former chief and the two other officers from the case, leaving Kaine as the lone defendant.
Joy Bertrand, the plaintiffs’ attorney, argued her clients were going to get ice cream when they were pulled over and detained over a baseless report. Bertrand faulted the officers for continuing to detain Carter in handcuffs, even after Barr notified them Carter was her grandson.
Bertrand also highlighted that while no physical harm came to her clients, emotional and mental harm persisted after the incident.
“There is tendency to want the police to act, but it’s a very fine line between action and overstepping their power,” she said. “That’s what the jury had an issue with today. I happen to disagree.
“I don’t think the stop had any reasonable suspicion and certainly not as they continued to detain Mr. Carter.”
Joe Wirth and Jasmyne Baynard, who represented the city and the officers, argued Kaine had reasonable cause, based on the tip he received. They said Kaine appropriately de-escalated the situation as he learned the robbery report was inaccurate.
Baynard said she wasn’t surprised by the verdict nor that all the defendants were “ultimately dismissed” from the case.
“This case really came down to a traffic stop,” Baynard said after the decision. “It was a tip from a concerned citizen . ... I don’t think this lawsuit should’ve been brought.”
Bertrand said she plans to file an appeal.
“This case really came down to a traffic stop...”
Jasmyne Baynard
attorney