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Columbia Man Files Third Lawsuit Against Police Alleging Howard County Police Brutality

By Jack Lebowitz, Esq. and Vadim Mzhen, Esq.

Last year, our Baltimore Maryland accident lawyers reported on the story of Melvin Yates, a Columbia man who filed a $50 million federal lawsuit suing Howard County, Police Chief William McMahon, and three officers for civil rights violations and including police brutality. A federal court dismissed that his case twice?once, says ExploreHoward.com, because Yates?s Maryland injury lawyer did not counter a dismissal motion submitted by Howard County attorneys. The lawsuit was filed again and also dismissed because it was almost identical to the first one and the same complaint cannot be filed twice in federal court.

Now, Yates is trying again. This time, he is filing his Maryland police brutality lawsuit in Howard County Circuit Court.

Yates, who is in his early 20?s, claims that cops beat him at his dad?s memorial party last April. Yates?s dad had died in a Maryland motorcycle accident. Police were called to the party after a fight broke out.

Yates contends that he wasn?t involved in the brawl and actually tried to leave the party but that a cop stopped him. He says he cooperated with the police but that they assaulted him. Yates suffered a concussion, chipped his tooth, as well as sustained bruises, cuts, and a black eye. In his federal lawsuit, he accused Howard County police of battery, civil rights violations, false imprisonment, poor training, and inadequate hiring.

Last October, a jury found Yates guilty of failing to obey a cop and disorderly conduct during his arrest. However, they found him innocent of assaulting a cop and of resisting arrest.

Yates files third lawsuit against Howard County police, ExploreHoward, February 16, 2011

Columbia Man Files $50 Million Maryland Police Brutality Lawsuit Against Howard County Police, Maryland Accident Law Blog, June 16, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Howard County Police Department

Shielded from Justice, Police Brutality in the US, HRW.org

More Blog Posts:
Arnold Man Convicted of Hindering Cop Who Shot Him Plans to File Anne Arundel County Personal Injury Lawsuit, Maryland Accident Law Blog, June 10, 2010

$10 Million Maryland Wrongful Death Lawsuit Blames Baltimore County Police for Taser Fatality, Maryland Accident Law Blog, June 10, 2010

$10 Million Maryland Wrongful Death Lawsuit Blames Baltimore County Police for Taser Fatality, Maryland Accident Law Blog, March 12, 2010

Full post as published by Maryland Accident Law Blog on February 19, 2011 (boomark / email).