Posted in Civil Rights on September 18, 2013
A Tulsa jury has rejected allegations of police misconduct against two Tulsa police officers and concluded that they did not violate the civil rights of a motorist who was stopped and allegedly forced to do push-ups.
According to Brian Lumpkin, Tulsa police officers James Bohanon and Kevin Warne stopped his car, placed him in handcuffs, searched his car and made him do push-ups to avoid a citation. The officers version of the story differed. They claimed that Lumpkin voluntarily did push-ups and then challenged Bohanon to do the same.
The jury sided with the officers and concluded that they did not compel Lumpkin to perform push-ups to avoid a ticket.
Lumpkin’s allegations implicated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which forbids the imposition of any punishment without due process of law. Civil rights attorneys who handle due process claims will analyze whether the particular facts support the contention that a person did not receive adequate notice of the allegations against them, or a meaningful opportunity to respond to those allegations before being subjected to some type of punishment or deprivation of life, liberty or property.
Although due process claims often involve allegations of police misconduct, they frequently arise in the context of property by a governmental entity, or the assessment of some lien against property.
If you have questions about police misconduct or due process allegations, contact the attorneys at Bryan & Terrill Law, (918) 935-2777.