28-11-2013, 09:46 PM
Occupy Wall Street couple can't sue over Citibank arrest: Judge
Manhattan Federal Judge Denise Cote ruled Wednesday that the police had probable cause to believe the couple had committed trespassing by staying in bank for several minutes after a Citibank employee asked the protesters to leave.
Comments (5) By Daniel Beekman / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, November 27, 2013, 2:49 PM
Updated: Wednesday, November 27, 2013, 5:05 PM
![[Image: occupy28n-1-web.jpg]](http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1531254.1385584574%21/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/occupy28n-1-web.jpg)
Bryan Smith/Bryan Smith for News
Julio Jose Jimenez-Artunduaga and his fiancee Heather Carpenter can't sue the city and NYPD officers for false arrest in connection with an incident at a bank in Greenwich Village, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Two Occupy Wall Street protesters can't sue the city and NYPD officers for false arrest in connection with an incident at a bank in Greenwich Village, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Graphic artist Julio Jose Jimenez-Artunduaga and his wife, Heather Carpenter, took part in a demonstration at the Citibank branch on Oct. 15, 2011.
They were out on the street by the time cops started making collars, but were hauled back inside and arrested anyway.
Manhattan Federal Judge Denise Cote ruled Wednesday the police had probable cause to believe the couple had trespassed by staying in bank for several minutes after a Citibank employee asked the protesters to leave.
Carpenter was closing out her Citibank account as part of the demonstration and Jimenez was videotaping the action. They plan to appeal.
RELATED: OWS PROTESTER SUES NYPD
"Closing a bank account is, of course, lawful activity," Cote found. "But, given the facts as they appeared to the arresting officers, it was reasonable for them to conclude that Carpenter's decision to remain in the Citibank branch and move to a teller's window to engage in a banking transaction was a decision to engage in protest activity in defiance of the bank employees."
Ronald Kuby, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, called the decision "puzzling and weird."
"The court acknowledged that the only thing Carpenter did was to close her bank account, and then she left," the lawyer said. "I know people love banks but you shouldn't be able to arrest someone for closing their account if even they close it in protest."
The criminal charges against the pair were dismissed but Carpenter, who was a student in 2011 and who now works in a nursing home, spent three days in jail, Kuby said.
The plaintiffs also claimed they were subjected to excessive force. Cote ruled that their case can move ahead on that complaint - against individual cops, including former Chief of Department James Esposito, but not against the city.
"We agree with the court's decision regarding the city's liability and false arrest," city lawyer Andrew Lucas said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ows-...z2lyXLtkro
Manhattan Federal Judge Denise Cote ruled Wednesday that the police had probable cause to believe the couple had committed trespassing by staying in bank for several minutes after a Citibank employee asked the protesters to leave.
Comments (5) By Daniel Beekman / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, November 27, 2013, 2:49 PM
Updated: Wednesday, November 27, 2013, 5:05 PM
Bryan Smith/Bryan Smith for NewsJulio Jose Jimenez-Artunduaga and his fiancee Heather Carpenter can't sue the city and NYPD officers for false arrest in connection with an incident at a bank in Greenwich Village, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Two Occupy Wall Street protesters can't sue the city and NYPD officers for false arrest in connection with an incident at a bank in Greenwich Village, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Graphic artist Julio Jose Jimenez-Artunduaga and his wife, Heather Carpenter, took part in a demonstration at the Citibank branch on Oct. 15, 2011.
They were out on the street by the time cops started making collars, but were hauled back inside and arrested anyway.
Manhattan Federal Judge Denise Cote ruled Wednesday the police had probable cause to believe the couple had trespassed by staying in bank for several minutes after a Citibank employee asked the protesters to leave.
Carpenter was closing out her Citibank account as part of the demonstration and Jimenez was videotaping the action. They plan to appeal.
RELATED: OWS PROTESTER SUES NYPD
"Closing a bank account is, of course, lawful activity," Cote found. "But, given the facts as they appeared to the arresting officers, it was reasonable for them to conclude that Carpenter's decision to remain in the Citibank branch and move to a teller's window to engage in a banking transaction was a decision to engage in protest activity in defiance of the bank employees."
Ronald Kuby, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, called the decision "puzzling and weird."
"The court acknowledged that the only thing Carpenter did was to close her bank account, and then she left," the lawyer said. "I know people love banks but you shouldn't be able to arrest someone for closing their account if even they close it in protest."
The criminal charges against the pair were dismissed but Carpenter, who was a student in 2011 and who now works in a nursing home, spent three days in jail, Kuby said.
The plaintiffs also claimed they were subjected to excessive force. Cote ruled that their case can move ahead on that complaint - against individual cops, including former Chief of Department James Esposito, but not against the city.
"We agree with the court's decision regarding the city's liability and false arrest," city lawyer Andrew Lucas said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ows-...z2lyXLtkro
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass