Gypsy Settlement Right Move By City
Well, now we know how much it costs when bullheadedness and poor police work collide with a couple of questionable characters: $1.43 million.
The city of Spokane will pay a Gypsy family that much to end a dispute that began 11 years ago when police botched a raid on two homes.
The city got off cheap, too.
If the Gypsy suit had gone to trial, Spokane risked losing millions more in legal fees and punitive damages. The Washington Supreme Court has ruled the police conduct outrageous. City attorneys would have struggled to persuade a civil jury otherwise.
In June 1986, gung-ho police officers confiscated $1.6 million in cash and $500,000 in jewelry from the Marks family while searching for stolen goods. In the process, police sampled a family roast, forced females who weren’t suspects to disrobe in front of them, desecrated a religious shrine and even removed a baby’s diaper.
Since then, the city has lost several court tests against the Gypsies, as evidence was ruled inadmissible, charges dismissed and the return of confiscated goods ordered. Ultimately, this exercise in futility won only misdemeanor guilty pleas from Gypsy leader Jimmy Marks and his mother, Marie.
Still, Marks had little reason to gloat as he did last week after the settlement was announced. A good portion of the settlement amount will be eaten up in lawyers fees. Additionally, Marks has admitted the police raid and high-profile court battle have made him an outcast in the secretive Gypsy community.
No one should forget the police had good reason to believe some members of the Marks family were trafficking in stolen goods.
At times, Marks’ conduct during the long ordeal was as outrageous as that of the police who raided his home.
In one instance, a family member and witness against them claims Marks and his father showed contempt for her family by urinating in her living room. On another occasion, a CBS News crew filmed a Marks family fight in which members sprayed each other with pepper spray or Mace.
In the ensuing story for “Eye to Eye With Connie Chung,” an announcer introduced Marks as a self-described con man, and an uncle called his father and him thieves.
The July 1994 visit by the CBS film crew also served to show how obsessed some city and police officials were with the Gypsies.
At 4:20 one morning, local police raided CBS hotel rooms and seized videotape - the first time in the United States such strong-armed tactics had been used against the network.
Under threat of lawsuit and against police wishes, the city later apologized to CBS. The police department was ready to pursue its vendetta with the Gypsies until hell froze over.
Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed - finally.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board