City of Tulsa sued again in connection with police corruption probe
BY JARREL WADE World Staff Writer
Saturday, August 11, 2012
8/11/12 at 4:44 AM
Grand jury investigates police corruption: Read all of the stories, view a timeline and read key documents.
At least the 13th lawsuit claiming liability against the city of Tulsa related to police corruption was filed Thursday in Tulsa County District Court.
The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff was falsely arrested Dec. 28, 2008, by former Tulsa Police Officer Eric Hill, who was fired in 2010 after admitting to investigators that he planted drugs during arrests.
Edward Earl Johnson, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, pleaded no contest to drug possession charges following his 2008 arrest, court records show.
Johnson's attorney, Scott D. Keith, said Johnson was granted post-conviction relief last year and had his charge resulting from the 2008 arrest dismissed. Court records show that the conviction was overturned by dismissal in October
A federal investigation of Tulsa police officers and a federal agent began as early as 2008 and resulted in charges against six current or former Tulsa police officers and the federal agent, as well as accusations of criminal behavior against five officers - including Hill - who were never charged.
Including Johnson, at least 46 people have been freed from prison or had their cases modified because of civil rights violations or potential problems with their cases.
Attorney Clark Brewster and his firm, representing the city of Tulsa in the resulting lawsuits, have been successful in having the city dismissed from at least two lawsuits in federal court and at least one in state court, although the state lawsuit was refiled in federal court.
Brewster was not available for comment Friday.
Johnson's lawsuit names Hill and the city of Tulsa as defendants, alleging that the city was negligent toward police corruption that led to his allegedly false arrest.
The lawsuit does not detail Johnson's arrest other than to allege the illegality of the arrest based on Hill's admissions in the police corruption probe, Keith said.
The lawsuit requests relief for damages as a result of Johnson's conviction, including mental, physical and emotional pain in addition to lost income.
The arrest was not Johnson's first. According to Oklahoma Department of Corrections records, he was convicted of rape in 1987 and was sentenced to five years' probation.
Original Print Headline: City sued again over police corruption scandal
Jarrel Wade 918-581-8367
jarrel.wade@tulsaworld.com
