Ted Graney recently obtained a defense verdict on behalf of three City of North Tonawanda police officers accused of excessive force. The trial was held in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York before Chief Judge Frank Geraci. The plaintiff alleged violations of his Fourth Amendment rights and claimed head, shoulder and nerve injuries due to excessive force during his arrest. After a five day trial, the eight person jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of each of the three officers on May 13, 2015.
The plaintiff in this case claimed the officers deliberately caused his injuries after he was handcuffed and in police custody. In light of recent incidents in other parts of the country involving allegations of police misconduct, it was a particularly challenging time to take an excessive force case to trial. Nonetheless, the defense was able to successfully focus the jury on the facts of this case and the numerous inconsistencies in the plaintiff’s version of events from the night of the arrest.