$506,000 Awarded to Wisconsin Man for Officers’ Unlawful Stop and Arrest

A federal jury has awarded a man $506,000 after finding two Wisconsin police officers liable of an illegal stop and arrest.

Leo Hardy was instructed by officers Michael Gasser and Keith Garland to exit his car. When Gasser searched within Hardy’s pants for alleged drugs, Hardy ran. Hardy was subsequently caught, strip-searched and arrested for resisting arrest. Hardy filed suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin on July 10, 2013, against the officers and the City of Milwaukee (“City”), seeking damages and alleging claims including Fourth Amendment violations and false arrest and conspiracy. On August 7, 1014, the jury returned a verdict for Hardy on some claims, awarding him $506,000 in total damages.

Hardy, a black resident and on probation for theft, was stopped near his mother’s home by officers Gasser and Garland in March 2012 due to an alleged traffic violation. According to the officers, they had been informed by a nearby security guard that Hardy was accompanying a man believed to be trespassing. Upon nearing Hardy, Gasser testified that he had smelled marijuana. Gasser further claimed that Hardy had reached toward his waistband and as Gasser feared that Hardy might have a gun, Gasser searched him.

Gasser alleged that as he had felt what he believed to be drugs in the front of Hardy’s pants and when he asked Hardy what he had, Hardy ran. He was caught and publicly strip-searched by Gasser and apparently by another officer, Michael Valuch. Hardy was arrested for resisting arrest and spent 21 days in jail.

After a complaint to the police department’s internal affairs division failed, Hardy filed suit in the district court. Alleging that the officers had no reason to stop him and that they had improperly searched him by touching his genitals and publicly strip-searching him, Hardy raised due process, Fourth Amendment, false arrest, failure to intervene, conspiracy and supervisory liability claims. He sought attorneys’ fees and compensatory and punitive damages.

At trial, Hardy admitted feeling humiliated, degraded, and assaulted during the search. He further testified that he only ran after his genitals had been touched because “[he] was scared… [and felt] violated.” Contrary to Gasser’s testimony of smelling marijuana, Gasser’s report failed to include this detail, and Garland, the other officer, denied smelling marijuana at all. While the jury did not find any wrongdoing in the manner of the search, it did find that Gasser and Garland had no reason to stop Hardy and that Gasser’s search had been unjustified. Hardy was awarded $2,500 in compensatory damages from Gasser and Garland, totaling $5,000.

Also concluding that Hardy had been falsely arrested, the jury assessed an additional $1,000 in compensatory damages. Punitive damages against the officers amounted to $250,000 each. However, the City was responsible for the damages as the officers had been on duty. See Hardy v. Gasser, U.S.D.C. (E.D. Wis.), Case No. 2:13-cv-00769-JPS.

Additional source: Journal Sentinel

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