Man loses civil suit against city, two Kent Police officers for excessive force at rock concert

A jury ruled against a Marysville man who sued the city of Kent and two of its police officers for assault and battery as they removed him from a 2015 rock concert at the ShoWare Center.

“The City of Kent is gratified that, after considering the evidence, the jury concluded both officers acted lawfully and appropriately under the circumstances,” read a statement in a city press release emailed to the Kent Reporter on Monday by Police Chief Rafael Padilla.

Despite the victory, it cost the city about $400,000 to defend the case, according to an email from City Attorney Pat Fitzpatrick. The Seattle law offices of Mills Meyers Swartling represented the city and the officers.

“Unfortunately, in this type of case, the reimbursement of these costs, which might deter individuals from filing these lawsuits in the first place, is not an option,” Fitzpatrick said.

Patrick Van Horn, 52, claimed that Detective Eric Moore and Officer Tami Honda used excessive force and that they injured his right shoulder and caused him to have a Taser dart surgically removed from his stomach after they took him out of the arena Oct. 9, 2015 for reportedly pouring beer on a man and his daughter in the row in front of him during a Scorpions concert, according to court documents.

A King County Superior Court civil jury in Seattle took less than an hour to reach a verdict, according to city officials. The trial lasted four days last week.

Van Horn asked the jury to award him $480,000, arguing that the arrest aggravated his arthritic shoulder and caused him to need shoulder surgery, city officials said. But his orthopedic surgeon testified that Van Horn would have needed the surgery eventually, even without the arrest. Another medical expert testified that MRI images taken a few weeks after the arrest showed no injury to Van Horn’s shoulder, only chronic degenerative conditions.

“We disagree with the verdict,” said John Kannin, the attorney for Van Horn, in a Tuesday email. “Upon discussing the case with the jury, jurors expressed their opinions that what the police officers did was wrong, however, with the jury instructions given to the jurors they could not hold the police accountable for their wrongdoing.”

Kent Police arrested Van Horn for investigation of fourth-degree assault and obstructing an officer after he refused to leave his seat at the ShoWare Center to discuss the incident. A Kent Municipal Court jury found Van Horn not guilty to each charge.

Van Horn claimed the two officers used excessive force to remove him. Event staff tried to get Van Horn to leave his seat to talk about the incident. When he refused to leave, event staff called off-duty police officers working the concert to come to the seat.

When Van Horn didn’t comply with orders to leave his seat, Moore took hold of Van Horn’s left arm and told him to turn around and put his hands behind his back. Instead of complying, Van Horn tensed his left arm and used his right hand to grab Moore’s shoulder. During last week’s trial, Van Horn admitted grabbing Moore but claimed he had tripped and was merely trying to keep from falling.

When Van Horn grabbed him, Moore delivered a single knee strike to Van Horn’s abdomen. And Officer Honda used her Taser on Van Horn when she saw him grab her partner. The Taser was not effective, however, and Van Horn testified at trial that he did not even notice it at the time.

Honda has worked 14 years and Moore 12 years with the Kent Police.

Before trial, the court dismissed Van Horn’s claims for false arrest, civil conspiracy, negligence, and negligent hiring, retention, training and supervision due to lack of evidence to support those claims.

City payments

Of the $400,000 cost to defend the case, the city is responsible for $250,000 of that amount while the rest is covered by insurance, Fitzpatrick said.

The money comes from the city’s liability fund, and the city has a budget to cover the costs of defending lawsuits, Fitzpatrick said. That fund had $1.5 million in revenue in 2018 from insurance contributions and a fund balance of $1.2 million, according to city budget documents.

The 2018 budget for expenditures includes $900,000 for claims and judgments, $750,000 for insurance premiums, $160,000 for other expenses and $115,000 for salaries and benefits. Those costs led to a fund balance drop of $415,870 in 2018 to the $1.2 million total.

The hourly rates of the two litigators who assisted the city in the Van Horn cases were $230 and $285 per hour, Fitzpatrick said.

“These rates are very reasonable,” he said.