Lawsuit in pepper-spray case narrowed

A federal judge has thrown out part of a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Pullman and its police department for a pepper-spray incident in September 2001.

In a partial summary judgment published Tuesday, Judge Fred Van Sickle of the U.S. District Court in Spokane determined that the plaintiffs, who now number more than 100, could not limit how Pullman officers use pepper spray or require them to undergo cultural awareness training.

The incident, at the Top of China restaurant in downtown Pullman, started when officers were summoned to break up a fight on the first floor. According to police reports, the officers found a violent fight in progress and used pepper spray to subdue the participants, who were African American.

The spray reached the two upper levels of the building, where a large party sponsored by one of Washington State University’s African American fraternities was under way. The effects of the spray caused a panic among the several hundred attendees, who struggled to get down a small staircase and out of the building.

In the aftermath, a number of the students and some WSU staff at the party claimed that the officers acted inappropriately because the gathering involved black students. A few months later, about 90 people signed on to a lawsuit claiming racism and asking for monetary damages and injunctive relief, including mandatory cultural awareness and diversity training for Pullman’s officers.

The city’s attorney, Stewart Estes, argued that the claims that Pullman officers used pepper spray in a discriminatory manner were baseless. The judge agreed, noting that the plaintiffs failed to prove that the officers had a history or pattern of such misbehavior.

In a press release claiming that Van Sickle has dismissed “fully half” of the lawsuit against the police department, Estes said the judgment this week is a sign of things to come.

“We believe this is the first step in the total vindication of our clients,” he said. “We expect the remainder of the lawsuit to be rejected as well, either by the court or by the jury.”

Darrell Cochran, a Tacoma attorney representing the plaintiffs, disagreed. “It’s a very minor aspect of the case,” Cochran said. “The most important elements, whether there was wrongdoing and whether there are damages the plaintiffs are going to be allowed to recover, will still go forward.”

What also goes forward is a $450,000 counterclaim filed by the five officers named in the case, alleging that the lawsuit is frivolous. The initial claim, which now has about 120 plaintiffs, and the counterclaim are scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 22, 2005.