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Michigan Officer Shells Out $35,000 For Open Carry Stop
Bearing Arms ^ | 30 July 2015 | Bob Owens

Posted on 07/31/2015 12:21:32 PM PDT by archy

Michigan Officer Shells Out $35,000 For Open Carry Stop



Posted by Bob Owens on July 30, 2015 at 2:03 pm


Somehow, I don’t think Flint Township Police will be stopping people who open carry firearms any time soon unless they have a darn good reason.

A man who claimed he was wrongfully arrested on Christmas Eve while legally open-carrying his pistol has reached a $35,000 settlement with the officer who stopped him, according to the man’s attorney.

John David McMorris reached the agreement Tuesday, July 28, after he sued Flint Township Police and Sgt. Russell Fries following his Dec. 24, 2013, arrest. The lawsuit was forwarded to the township’s insurer.

“Mr. McMorris and I are satisfied with our result in this case,” said McMorris’ attorney, Craig McAra. “Civil rights cases for wrongful arrest can be difficult to win given the very high burden of proof placed upon the plaintiff.”

Township police Chief George Sippert declined to comment on the settlement and directed questions to attorney G. Gus Morris, who represented the officer and department in the case.

Flint Township Police maintain that this was a lawful stop, of course, and the city insists that the $35,000 settlement was the most logical way to end the case considering the high cost of litigating the case.

This was the second legal victory for McMorris in the incident, who won the criminal case brought against him in this bogus stop in April:

The basis for the arrest by the unnamed Flint Township officer was a steaming pile of bovine excrement in the first place.

The officer who made the arrest claimed that he saw McMorris when he drove by 15 minutes earlier while responding to another call, and that he didn’t see McMorris have a gun, but that when he came back by and hit his lights, he saw then a gun. Therefore, the officer surmised that McMorris must have illegally concealed the handgun hidden the first time the officer drove by.

That the officer simply didn’t observe the firearm for any number of valid and utterly logical reasons (such as the gun being on the opposite side of McMorris’ body, in the dark, while the officer was focused on responding to a call for assistance) never crossed his mind.

Sadly, the case reeks of vindictiveness on the part of the local authorities. McMorris was only charged with a felony seven months after his arrest, and only after he had filed civil charges of improper arrest against Flint Township police.

It’s a shame that McMorris has to go through civil and criminal cases, and even more of a shame that the criminal case seems to have been filed out of spite in the first place.

Let's hope the incident has led to policy changes in Flint Township so that this sort of incident doesn’t happen again.





TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; banglist; donutwatch; flint; michigan; opencarry; secondamendment
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Of course, if it happens again, it can be foiled as a racketeering charge, based on the crime by Flint police being a continuing pattern of felony criminal activity.

And that would open the door for both triple damages and criminal penalties for the officers involved, which, because a firearm was used [by them] in the commission of a felony, the mandatory penalty would have to be applied to them by a federal judge, pursuant to the Federal Safe Streets Act.

1 posted on 07/31/2015 12:21:32 PM PDT by archy
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To: archy

The cop paid $35,000? Or the taxpayers shelled it over?


2 posted on 07/31/2015 12:23:31 PM PDT by Gamecock (Many Atheists: "There is no God and I hate Him!")
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To: Gamecock

Great question. I suspect the latter.


3 posted on 07/31/2015 12:25:27 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Gamecock
The cop paid $35,000? Or the taxpayers shelled it over?

per story: The lawsuit was forwarded to the township’s insurer.

4 posted on 07/31/2015 12:27:15 PM PDT by archy
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To: archy; marktwain; Old Sarge; Lurker; Travis McGee
Of course, if it happens again, it can be foiled as a racketeering charge

That would be FILED as a racketeering charge....

5 posted on 07/31/2015 12:28:25 PM PDT by archy
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To: archy

Nah.

The title is all I need to read to make a kneejerk post.


6 posted on 07/31/2015 12:35:08 PM PDT by Gamecock (Many Atheists: "There is no God and I hate Him!")
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To: Gamecock

The insurance company paid, as it says in the article. The premiums were part of the normal expenses of operations. The premiums on the policy were likely taxpayer paid as part of the operations of the police department, since the officer was acting in the course and scope of his duties as a LEO.


7 posted on 07/31/2015 12:44:30 PM PDT by LachlanMinnesota
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To: Gamecock
The lawsuit was forwarded to the township’s insurer.

Any lawsuit proceeds against the party sued and then the insurance pays out. In most cases, insurance cannot be noted as involved during trial (if it gets that far).

8 posted on 07/31/2015 12:45:04 PM PDT by mykroar ("Never believe anything until it has been officially denied." - Otto von Bismarck)
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To: archy

I’d have settled for a somewhat lesser amount if it came directly out of the cop’s pocket.


9 posted on 07/31/2015 12:46:08 PM PDT by zeugma (The best defense against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun)
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To: archy

Don’t forget 18USC242 and the related Civil statutes.


10 posted on 07/31/2015 12:49:40 PM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: archy

Nice. The going rate for false arrest for open carry in Virginia is $10,000. Although there is a case in central VA pending that might end up being more pricey.


11 posted on 07/31/2015 1:06:04 PM PDT by RKBA Democrat ( The ballot is a suggestion box for slaves and fools)
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To: archy

IOW, the taxpayers shelled it over . . . or eventually will in higher insurance premiums.


12 posted on 07/31/2015 1:10:15 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: Vigilanteman
IOW, the taxpayers shelled it over . . . or eventually will in higher insurance premiums.

We'll see if the insurance company execs serve the mandatory jail time if there's a follow-on case. As well as the 35,000 times triple damages, plus 1,5 times the attorney's usual fee [around here, often $495/hour for federal court work] in a 42 U.S. Code § 1983 action.

13 posted on 07/31/2015 1:23:08 PM PDT by archy
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To: archy

A lot of cities are their own insurers. But this place may be too small to carry that burden. When I worked in law offices, a lot of cases we had against cities, it was filed in court and served on the city and when we won the case, the city paid, not some insurance company. Thus, it is tax payer money they pay their losses on, not some insurance company they paid premiums too.


14 posted on 07/31/2015 1:53:21 PM PDT by RetiredArmy (It is about THE CROSS. It has always been and always will be about the CROSS!!!)
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To: archy

$35,000? Not enough IMHO!


15 posted on 07/31/2015 2:38:55 PM PDT by Corky Ramirez ( I'm the new guy!)
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To: archy

And who pays the premiums, along with the subsequent rise in rates?


16 posted on 07/31/2015 2:49:04 PM PDT by Corky Ramirez ( I'm the new guy!)
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To: Springman; cyclotic; netmilsmom; RatsDawg; PGalt; FreedomHammer; queenkathy; madison10; ...
Well that's one way to learn a lesson

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Michigan legislative action thread
17 posted on 07/31/2015 4:33:16 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Sad fact, most people just want a candidate to tell them what they want to hear)
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To: RKBA Democrat

We had a local case here in PA which cost the city $22,000.


18 posted on 07/31/2015 4:58:28 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA (war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, obama loves America)
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To: Corky Ramirez

I would buy a 50 BMG and mount it on my car and pocket the other $25,000.

(The mounted BMG being symbolic).


19 posted on 07/31/2015 4:59:54 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA (war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, obama loves America)
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To: Red in Blue PA

Damn! Virginians are settling for too little.


20 posted on 07/31/2015 5:30:42 PM PDT by RKBA Democrat ( The ballot is a suggestion box for slaves and fools)
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