The Initial Claim for Damages:
In October of 2017, Kyle Zoellner, the man originally arrested and charged with murder in the death of David Josiah Lawson, took the first step towards suing the city of Arcata by filing a claim for money or damages with the city. (1) In that claim, Zoellner names 12 individuals including the city manager, city council members, the police chief, police officers and other unnamed individuals. His damages were described as lost wages, medical bills, loss of personal property, defamation of character, pain and suffering and emotional distress. He reports having recieved medical care for injuries at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Eureka, a Mckinleyville clinic and from a Eureka dentist. He described the incident as follows:
"I was physically assaulted and brutally beaten unconscious at 1120 Spear Avenue, Arcata CA, on the morning of April 15, 2017 by multiple assailants. I was taken to a police car by Officer Nielsen of the Arcata Police Department (APO) and detained at the above location for an extended amount time without receiving any medical attention or being taken to a hospital for my injuries. I was still in a semiconscious state due to my injuries during the interrogation with APO. I was arrested without probable cause and transported to the Humboldt County Jail for booking. I claim the Arcata Police Department (APO) filed a false police report with the Humboldt County District Attorney's office. I am claiming malicious prosecution and wrongful imprisonment by APO. I am claiming the search of my home and vehicle and the seizure of my personal property following my arrest was illegal. Also, I claim APO failed to submit a supplemental police report to the Humboldt County District Attorney for the above-mentioned assault when requested. I am claiming defamation of character by employees of the City of Arcata, specifically the City Manager, City Council members, and the Arcata Police Department by means of public statements and press releases."
The city council rejected the claim and referred it to their insurance provider. This is not an uncommon step for a city in such a position. This step also opened the door to Zoellner's subsequent lawsuit.
Zoellner v. City of Arcata:
Zoellner, seemingly with no attorney and representing himself, filled his lawsuit against the City of Arcata and several other defendants in May 2018 in the Superior Court of California. This complaint contained 5 counts, including false arrest, police misconduct, defamation, medical negligence and perjury. (2)
Zoellner eventually filed a motion and had the lawsuit moved to federal court in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint was amended several times in response to orders by the court before Zoellner obtained legal representation from San Francisco attorney Elizabeth Zareh.
The fifth and final amended complaint contained the following 9 counts against the below specified defendants:
(1) Unlawful arrest (for lack of probable cause) in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (against Chief Chapman, Det. Sgt. Dokweiler, Det. Losey, and Officers Nilsen, Arminio, and McKenzie).
(2) Malicious prosecution in violation of § 1983 (against Chief Chapman, Chief Ahearn, Det. Sgt. Dokweiler, Det. Losey, and Officers Nilsen, Arminio, and McKenzie).
(3) Deliberate indifference to serious medical need in violation of § 1983 (against Det. Sgt. Dokweiler and Officer Nilsen).
(4) “Policymaker ratification” in violation of § 1983 (against the City).
(5) Supervisory liability in violation of § 1983 (against Chief Chapman, Chief Ehle, and Chief Ahearn).
(6) Defamation in violation of California law (against all Defendants).
(7) Interference with petitioning rights in violation of § 1983 (against all Defendants).
(8) “Policymaker ratification” in violation of § 1983 (against the City).
(9) Wrongful threat of criminal prosecution (against all Defendants)
The city's, through their legal counsel filed a motion to dismiss this complaint. In April 2021, the court issued an order granting part and denying part of the city's motion to dismiss. (3) In that ruling, the court dismissed counts 4, 5, 7 and 8. Count 6, the defamation claim, was dismissed against all defendants except former police chief Thomas Chapman and detective Todd Dockweiler. All other claims were allowed to proceed.
Through the remainder of 2021, it appears that Zoellner's counsel continued the discovery process and conducted depositions. In January of 2022, they filed a motion requesting that the court allow them to again amend the complaint to present what they claimed to be newly discovered information from depositions, a move which would have had the court rereview it's decision to dismiss several claims.(4) The court denied this motion on January 26, 2022. (5)
Where the Case Stands Now:
In an order dated March 1, 2022, the court granted part of the defendant's motion for summary judgement for all claims except the malicious prosecution claim against former Arcata Police Detective Eric Losey. (6) This claim will be broken down in detail in a future post, but it essentially alleges that a misrepresentation of a witness statement by Losey in a charging summary amounts to malicious prosecution. This claim is scheduled to go to trial in July 2022.
The charging summary in question was forwarded to the Humboldt County District Attorney (DA) in the days after the homicide and Zoellner alleges that this was a significant factor in the DA's decision to file murder charges against him. In that charging summary, Detective Losey summarizes two statements made by a potential witness named Jason Martinez and represents that Martinez saw Lawson and Zoellner fighting, saw a knife and saw Zoellner stab Lawson. This proved to be false, with Martinez only reporting seeing two unidentified males fighting and at one point seeing an individual make "jabbing" motions. He was not able to identify the males and did not report seeing a knife. Losey's admission to the mistake and Martinez's actual testimony can be found in the preliminary hearing transcript from April 2017, available here.
The court in its March 1 decision also points to where Martinez's statement is inconsistent with physical evidence. In his testimony, Martinez states that he witnesses the fight between the two males - which Losey incorrectly described as the stabbing - in the grassy area while he is standing halfway down the driveway next to a red mustang style vehicle. No physical evidence was located in the grassy area, however, a pool of blood forming the start of the blood trail to the location where Lawson was found stabbed was located on the driveway next to a red mustang and the knife that police recovered was located underneath that mustang. Martinez makes no mention of these items in his testimony.
Finally, Count 9, which is a claim of wrongful threat of criminal prosecution was bifurcated and will be heard separately, pending the outcome of the upcoming trial. This claim will also be broken down in a future post, but, in summary, it is an allegation that the defense counsel for the city threatened future prosecution against Zoellner if he did not dismiss the civil case against the city. This allegation seems to arise from the defense counsel's statements at a settlement conference in July 2020. The transcript of this conference is available here.
References:
- Claim for Damages from Lost Coast Outpost
- Summons and Complaint for Violation of Civil Rights and State Law from North Coast News
- ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS FIFTH AMENDED COMPLAINT
- PLAINTIFF’S NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE AND TO AMEND THE FIFTH AMENDED COMPLAINT Exhibits presented alongside this document are available under docket 201 here
- ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION AND TO AMEND COMPLAINT
- ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
- Preliminary Hearing Transcript(Public redacted version)
- TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS BY ZOOM WEBINAR (Public redacted version)