Opinion ID: 557349
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Rodius Incident

Text: 10 When Deputy Ray Sowers observed four young people talking between a car and a truck on the evening of March 15, 1986, he pulled over both vehicles. Sowers ordered Ed Rodius, a passenger in the truck, into the patrol car after he asked why they had been stopped. When Rodius refused to comply, Sowers jumped on Rodius, choked him, pulled on his hair, and then threw him to the ground and rubbed his face on the gravel of the parking lot. 11 Rodius was arrested and charged with possession of alcohol as a minor, purchasing liquor, and resisting arrest. Rodius was tried twice on the resisting arrest charge. The first trial resulted in a hung jury, and the second was declared a mistrial after the prosecution violated a motion in limine by referring to the case at bar in front of the jury. The Mason County Prosecutor's office eventually dismissed the charges. 12 In the present case, the jury returned verdicts against all the individual deputies and the County, awarding $528,000 in compensatory Punitive damages were awarded only against the individual deputies, not the County. The jury awarded $225,000 in punitive damages and $150,000 compensatory to Davis; $10,000 in punitive and $5,000 compensatory to Broughton; $25,000 in punitive and $5,000 compensatory to Durbin; $25,000 in punitive and $0 compensatory to Rodius; and $35,000 in punitive and $1,500 compensatory to Taylor. The district court awarded attorneys' fees, expenses, and costs to plaintiffs in the amount of $323,559.65. 13 Defendants-appellants timely appealed. This court has jurisdiction over the appeal under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291.