I bet the payout, when its all said and done will far surpass what Houston had to pay when they arrested 275 for being in a Kmart parking lot.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-close-to-settling-Kmart-lawsuits-from-02-1771312.php
Houston close to settling Kmart lawsuits from ‘02 raid
Kmart-raid lawsuit settlements near
Council’s approval of both proposals will end legal saga
CAROLYN FEIBEL, Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle | June 17, 2008
Houston police arrested 273 people during an Aug. 17, 2002, sweep through a Kmart parking lot on Westheimer.
The sweep was part of a crackdown on illegal street racing, but Capt. Mark Aguirre ordered the arrest of everyone in the parking lot. Many of those arrested said they were store customers or passers-by.
Eight other lawsuits stemming from the Kmart raid already have been settled. Four others were dismissed. The total cost to the city for all the settlements is $840,117. Senior Assistant City Attorney Robert Cambrice estimated that an additional $60,000 was spent on outside lawyers who helped defend HPD and worked to expunge the arrest records of those caught up in the sweep.
“We came in at less than $1 million,” Cambrice said. “Some people said how many tens of millions this would cost the city. I would say justice was served, and the public purse was appropriately protected.”
Randall Kallinen was one of the attorneys in the suit that may be settled for $474,117.
“The Kmart raid represented one of the most egregious mass civil rights violations in Houston history,” Kallinen said Monday. “I believe it is a reasonable settlement under the circumstances, and all the clients will get some payment for the suffering they went through.”
12 out of 273 ain’t much!
There indeed may have been a truly innocent arrested at the Twin Peaks shoot em up, but none of them were dressed up like a bandido or totin a pistol.