Fluvanna police brutality suit advances

A federal judge is allowing a police brutality lawsuit against Fluvanna County’s sheriff and a Fluvanna sheriff’s deputy to move forward.

Judge Norman K. Moon ruled Thursday that the suit filed by Pennsylvania resident Charles E. Wernert may proceed to a jury trial scheduled to take place in mid-June.

Wernert filed suit against Sheriff Ryant L. Washington and Deputy Joshua Greene in connection with an incident three years ago.

Washington was not involved in the incident, but was named as a defendant in the lawsuit because he is Greene’s supervisor.

Washington declined to comment on the specifics of the complaint, as it involves pending litigation. Washington did say, however, that his agency is held to the “highest professional standards.”

“We run a professional agency, an accountable agency,” Washington said. “Don’t assume that one allegation — if it’s true or not true — should overshadow all the good work done by law enforcement.”

Richmond lawyer John A. Gibney, who is representing Washington and Greene, said he is reviewing the ruling and is considering an appeal.

“We’re considering our options, including an appeal,” he said.

According to the lawsuit, Wernert was vacationing in Fluvanna County in May 2007 when he encountered Fluvanna sheriff’s Deputies Greene and Francis Ferki.

Greene and Ferki had been on the lookout for a suspect — matching Wernert’s description — who had reportedly been involved in an assault earlier that evening at a residence on Kents Store Road.

Wernert, who had previously been convicted of a DUI in Pennsylvania, told the deputies that he was not supposed to leave Pennsylvania without permission.

Fluvanna’s dispatcher radioed to Greene and Ferki to inform them that Pennsylvania authorities were requesting they take Wernert into custody until they could come and pick him up.

The deputies handcuffed Wernert behind his back and took him to the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office for booking.

Upon arrival, deputies emptied Wernert’s pockets and told him to remove his belt and shoes. Wernert asked how he was supposed to take off his shoes while handcuffed. He was told to “figure it out” for himself,” according to court documents.

Wernert managed to remove his belt. Greene told him then to “kick your shoes off,” court documents said.

Wernert stepped on the heel of his right shoe and kicked it off. He tried to do the same with his left shoe, but it flipped up and accidentally struck Ferki in the face, according to Wernert’s complaint.

Ferki was about to say “nice shot” when Greene told Wernert to “get on the ground,” that striking Ferki was “assault on an officer” and said “don’t be trying to assault my deputy,” according to Ferki’s deposition.

As he made these statements, Greene took Wernert down to the floor using an “escort takedown maneuver.”

Wernert hit the floor face first, his hands still cuffed behind his back. “Plaintiff recalls no further facts following being slammed into the ground, stating that ‘the next thing I knew, I woke up in a pool of blood,’” according to the judge’s memorandum opinion.

Wernert was treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center for multiple facial fractures, as well as impacted and displaced teeth. He received stitches for facial lacerations and his teeth were straightened and a wire splint was placed in his mouth.

“Imagine being thrown face first to a concrete floor while handcuffed behind the back,” said Wernert’s lawyer, Steven D. Rosenfield of Charlottesville. “That’s what happened here.”

Rosenfield added that Greene’s deposition shows he thought that Wernert “wasn’t being disrespectful or aggressive” prior to the takedown move.

Greene told the court, however, that he was worried Wernert was a threat to himself and Ferki.

“At the time, he was a threat to me, as well as still a threat to Ferki,” Greene said in a deposition. “I was, you know, within a few inches, a foot of [Wernert]. [Wernert] had already been involved in one altercation that night. He appeared intoxicated at the time. Once you are on the ground, it eliminates the whole threat.”

Wernert’s lawyer, however, submitted an affidavit by an expert in police defensive tactics that found that Greene’s actions were “more retaliatory” than to “overcome resistance.”

In the aftermath of the incident, Wernert was charged with felony assault of a law enforcement officer. That charge was dropped in Fluvanna County Circuit Court late last year.

He was never charged in connection with the reported assault that occurred earlier that evening.

Wernert filed a federal lawsuit against Washington and Greene in April 2009.

On Thursday, Judge Moon found that Wernert’s allegation of assault did not have merit. Moon further ruled that there is sufficient evidence to move forward with the allegations of battery, gross negligence and violation of Wernert’s Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.

Greene has argued, court records show, that he is protected by “qualified immunity,” which protects government officials from liability based on actions arising from the performance of their duties so long as the official “does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.”

Greene remains on active duty with the Fluvanna Sheriff’s Office.

Washington declined to say if Greene was disciplined as a result of the incident, citing confidentiality rules for personnel matters.

The case has been scheduled for a four-day trial starting June 14 in Charlottesville’s federal court.