Lawsuit against city, officers can proceed

Judge denies motion to dismiss based on immunity

The Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 23 that a lawsuit a Lorain man filed against the city of Lorain and some of its police officers on malicious prosecution and trespassing, can go forward.

In a seven-page decision penned by Judge Lynne Callahan, the appellate court denied a motion to dismiss the case on the basis of immunity filed by the city.

The appeals court rejected arguments from the city that the officers were entitled to immunity on claims of malicious prosecution and trespassing because they were engaged in a governmental function and that the fourth amendment claims were barred by the statute of limitations.

The Court of Appeals ruled that the city’s motion to dismiss was narrow, stating a plaintiff is under no obligation to prove their case in initial pleadings, rejecting the city’s argument that the trial court was required to dismiss the malicious prosecution claim due to a failure of Christopher W. Lemley, who filed the suit against the city, to identify an exception to immunity in which to grant relief from the court.

The appellate court denied a second assignment of error on similar grounds, concluding the city’s arguments failed.

“The City appears to argue that the trial court erred with respect to the malicious prosecution claim against the police officers because Mr. Lemley failed to plead any exception to immunity under R.C. 27744.02 (B),” Callahan wrote. “In other words, the City has made the same argument regarding the police officers that it made regarding the claim against the City itself.”

The city, Callahan wrote, expended considerable effort in its appellate brief addressing whether Lemley pleaded a claim of malicious prosecution against the police officers in their individual capacities or their capacities as officers.

“This issue is beyond the scope of this appeal,” the judge wrote. “To the extent that the trial court addressed the issue of capacity, it did so in the context of Mr. Lemley’s claim for trespass, which the trial court dismissed as barred by the statute of limitations.

“This appeal, however, is limited to the trial court’s decision denying the motion to dismiss with respect to the malicious prosecution claim on the grounds that the City was not entitled to immunity.”

Lemley filed the suit March 11, 2020, in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.

In his suit against the city and police officers Jamie Ball, Adam Ehrke and Richard Stiltz, he alleges they came to his house in February 2018 to investigate a “second hand complaint of a suicidal male,” as stated in a police report.

Lemley was in his garage talking on the phone when officers arrived and met them at the gate in his backyard, telling them he was not suicidal and he refused to let them on his property, according to the suit.

When walking toward his garage, Bell shot Lemley with a stun gun, with Ehrke and Stiltz trespassing onto his property to put him in handcuffs and take him into custody, the suit says.

Lemley then was “held against his wishes for several days” in Mercy Regional Medical Center, now known as Mercy Health — Lorain Hospital, the suit alleges.

He is suing on counts of malicious prosecution, trespass, individual liability and violation of the Ohio Constitution for $25,000, punitive damages and other further relief.