Pepper-sprayed Occupy Portland protester Liz Nichols gets $7,116 bill
#1
I think they're saying they have ways of dealing with those that open their mouths up here: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index...tland.html

[Image: elizabeth-nichols-photojpg-b34e6742192fa306.jpg]

Excerpt: "Pay up.

That’s the message Portland is sending Elizabeth Evon Nichols -- to the tune of $7,116.

Nichols is the Occupy Portland protester whose image became widely known for being blasted in the face with pepper spray by a Portland police officer in fall 2011. She sued the city for excessive force but lost after a four-day trial in August in U.S. District Court in Portland.

She had sought $30,000, noting the excruciating pain of pepper spray in her eyes and throat -- and the ensuing nightmares, depression and worsening eczema.

But the jury sided with Portland, and so the city was entitled to recover its costs of defending itself. Deputy city attorney David Landrum said he offered to drop the city's pursuit of costs if Nichols agreed to waive an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He called one of Nichols' attorneys with the offer.

"I said 'I don't need to drag this money out of her,'" Landrum said, noting that he knows Nichols, 23, is a college student at Portland State University. At the time of her federal trial, she also was working as a janitor.

Landrum said he didn't hear anything for weeks, so he called back and got his answer: Nichols decided to appeal. So the city sought its payback. On Oct. 18, federal judge Michael Mosman signed off on the $7,116 that Nichols now owes. That award is reflected in paperwork that the city attorney's office filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court Wednesday. The breakdown is as follows:

$350 for fees to the clerk
$85 for fees for summons and subpoena
$5,195 for fees for transcripts used in the case
$82 for fees for witnesses
$838 for copying costs
$20 for docket fees
$546 for other costs
The city isn't seeking the costs of paying its staff to work on the case.

More than three months have passed since Mosman approved the city's costs, but Nichols still hasn't paid. The papers state that interest is accruing at .35 percent a year.

Nichols’ attorney, Benjamin Haile, said Thursday that his client is appealing because she believes there were errors in the trial.

For those of you who need a refresher on Nichols’ run-in with police:

On Nov. 17, 2011, Nichols had linked arms with other Occupy Portland protesters and didn’t move down a sidewalk and away from a bank next to Pioneer Courthouse Square despite police orders to do so.

During a December 2012 noncriminal trial in which Nichols was fighting a ticket for failing to obey police orders, officer Doris Paisley said she pushed Nichols in the throat with a baton as Nichols stood her ground. Paisley said Nichols then threw her hands up in an aggressive fashion, and the officer shoved Nichols in the torso with the baton.

Officer Jeffrey McDaniel then pepper-sprayed Nichols in the face, her mouth open. The moment was captured by an Oregonian photographer in an image that circulated around the globe.

Nichols had testified she hadn't heard any police orders to move down the sidewalk and that she didn't lunge at Paisley with her hands. Nichols said she did open her mouth to shout at the officer just as she was blasted with spray.

A Multnomah County Circuit judge fined Nichols $260."
Reply
#2
Good for Portland.
Reply
#3
(01-27-2014, 09:47 AM)SFLiberal Wrote: Good for Portland.

I can't wait for the cops to spray some anti abortion protestors.
Reply
#4
That was one of my favorite moments of the Occutard comedy series. Here's to hoping they come back for another season.Laughing
Reply
#5
But the jury sided with Portland, and so the city was entitled to recover its costs of defending itself.


LaughingLaughingLaughingDancingThumbs Up
Reply
#6
(01-27-2014, 09:53 AM)Scar Wrote: That was one of my favorite moments of the Occutard comedy series. Here's to hoping they come back for another season.Laughing

Don't you mean another seasonING? Laughing
Reply
#7
If any of you were charged $7000 by the government for exercising your free right to assembly and protest, do you think you would ever again work a tax paying job or do a thing to ever support this entity that had so wronged you?

Suppose a whole generation was treated like that, what then?

Snicker all you want, this is your futures you are throwing away.
Reply
#8
(01-24-2014, 02:10 PM)PonderThis Wrote: I think they're saying they have ways of dealing with those that open their mouths up here: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index...tland.html

"...More than three months have passed since Mosman approved the city's costs, but Nichols still hasn't paid. The papers state that interest is accruing at .35 percent a year..."

This .35 percent interest caught my eye when I first posted this story, such that I emailed the Oregonian's writer on this story to see if that might have been a misprint. She said it was a shock to her too, but this was an actual quote out of the official court papers. At .35 percent annual interest, if this is accurate, I would advise her to never pay it until inflation makes $7,116 about equal to what a roll of toilet paper is worth.
Reply
#9
(01-27-2014, 05:13 PM)PonderThis Wrote:
(01-24-2014, 02:10 PM)PonderThis Wrote: I think they're saying they have ways of dealing with those that open their mouths up here: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index...tland.html

"...More than three months have passed since Mosman approved the city's costs, but Nichols still hasn't paid. The papers state that interest is accruing at .35 percent a year..."

This .35 percent interest caught my eye when I first posted this story, such that I emailed the Oregonian's writer on this story to see if that might have been a misprint. She said it was a shock to her too, but this was an actual quote out of the official court papers. At .35 percent annual interest, if this is accurate, I would advise her to never pay it until inflation makes $7,116 about equal to what a roll of toilet paper is worth.
.35 percent interest isn't very much at all.

And if she is going to file a frivolous lawsuit, then she should have to pay. I don't think the city was going after her for freedom of speech, they are going after her because she was trying to get paid.
Reply
#10
If I got peppersprayed in the mouth, I'd want paid too.
Reply
#11
I'll pay ya 20 bucks to spray you.
Reply
#12
(01-27-2014, 05:06 PM)PonderThis Wrote: If any of you were charged $7000 by the government for exercising your free right to assembly and protest, do you think you would ever again work a tax paying job or do a thing to ever support this entity that had so wronged you?

Suppose a whole generation was treated like that, what then?

You seriously need to look a little closer. People all over this country exercise their right to free speech with out ANY problems. Yeah it's GREAT country.Big Grin
This women and her companions in occutardness were ordered to move from where they were to another location.

No one has a right to BLOCK a sidewalk or Disrupt other people just because they have the right to free speech.
Go stand in the middle of the road and voice any of your problems and see where it gets you.PLEASELaughingLaughing

Quote: Snicker all you want, this is your futures you are throwing away.

That's just too funny to merit a response.
Reply
#13
[Image: 1555566_1402952923287392_1653464736_n.jpg]
Reply
#14
I lost my medical degree, for appearing in a CBS film clip at Tlalco. Many of my schoolmates lost their lives. To the thugs of Mexico's wealthy. And, that is what is happening here. KTR.
Reply
#15
When have you ever heard of a tea party out of control or needing thousands of dollars for cleanup? When have the police ever had to use force to control a tea party event. These people are a bunch of losers that want everyone else to support them. The entitlement generation!
Reply
#16
(02-22-2014, 05:33 PM)minuteman Wrote: When have you ever heard of a tea party out of control or needing thousands of dollars for cleanup? When have the police ever had to use force to control a tea party event. These people are a bunch of losers that want everyone else to support them. The entitlement generation!

They are just young for the most part.
Reply
#17
I didn't attend O'Bama's inauguration. It's unlikely that he knew the number of lists that I was on, when he sent the invitation. I am since the age of five, committed to what I perceive would be the wishes of Ricardo Flores Magon. An oath I took, mixed in silliness and sadness. Floyd told me they hid the truth of Magon's death, to prevent damage to a shaky relationship between the anarchists of America, and those of Mexico. Since that page is lost to any other history, Magon was beaten to death by his guards, in Leavenworth. So, don't turn heads. Don't be enlisted. Just go quietly, amid the noise and the haste. Keep the 308 out of sight.
Reply
#18
The more things change. The more they are the same. Different year, same rant
Reply
#19
Just say "No" kids, just say "No".
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)