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Jury finds Portland police sergeant firing pepper spray into woman’s face was not excessive force
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Jury finds Portland police sergeant firing pepper spray into woman’s face was not excessive force

A federal jury deliberated less than two hours Thursday before finding that a former Portland police sergeant did not use excessive force when pepper spraying a woman in the face. Kenton Park in September 2020.

Marie Tyvoll, then 59, was setting up a “community outreach” tent in the park before an evening demonstration and march on Sept. 28, 2020, when dozens of Portland police officers arrived to clear the park of weapons, including shields and poles.

Tyvoll’s attorney, Rebecca Cambreling, argued that Tyvoll held the cell phone in his right hand while filming the police, when Sgt. Without warning, Justin D. Damerville sprayed himself in the face.

Tyvoll was wearing a COVID-19 mask and goggles and continued filming police, according to a video played in court.

Attorney Karen O’Kasey, representing Damerville, said Tyvoll ignored orders to “turn around” as other officers attempted to remove a large pole from a man a few feet in front of him.

O’Kasey told jurors that Tyvoll then hit Damerville’s right hand when he raised the pepper spray canister and grabbed his left hand, prompting Damerville to spray Tyvoll in the face.

O’Kasey argued that Damerville’s actions were justified because Tyvoll engaged in “physical resistance” while trying to keep a safe space between the crowd and the officers focusing on the man with the baton. He also showed jurors a screenshot of Tyvoll shortly after the pepper spray, noting that his eyes did not turn red, watery or remain parked, filming police.

“Citizens have the right to observe, there is no doubt about that,” O’Kasey said in his closing remarks. “Citizens have no right to interfere or make physical contact with an officer.”

Cambreling said Tyvoll did not pose an “imminent threat” to the officers and that Tyvoll’s arm “accidentally” came up to protect himself, not to hit the spray can.

Cambreling also said Tyvoll was not given a chance to come back on the park’s rough terrain.

“I didn’t have a second to process the order or execute the order before they pepper sprayed me pointlessly in the face,” Tyvoll said.

The seven-member jury began deliberating around 12:30 a.m. in federal court in Portland and reached its verdict at 1:55 p.m.

The jury also rejected Damerville’s argument that the city was responsible for the use of pepper spray.

Senior Deputy City Attorney Mallory R. Beebe said Damerville was authorized to use “reasonable force” to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

Tyvoll, now 63, said after the verdict was announced that he feared the result would “give the police greater powers to cause harm” and that he feared for the safety of others exercising their right to peacefully protest.

His attorney added: “While we are disappointed in the outcome, we are grateful that our client was able to tell his story to a jury of his peers and have his voice heard.”

Damerville resigned from the Police Bureau as a sergeant in May 2022 after 11 years with the agency as a member of the bureau’s former Rapid Response Team, which responds to civil unrest. He currently works as an officer with the Brentwood Police Department in Tennessee and was sworn in as an officer in late May.

The municipality had already paid $100,000 to pay The lawsuit filed by the man with the stick who was cornered by the police in the park that night.

Dmitri Stoyanoff, 40, of Vancouver, sued police, saying he was arrested for refusing to drop a “Vote Here” sign he was holding during a demonstration in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Stoyanoff said that the police tried to take his sign “without any legal justification”, and when he had difficulty holding the sign, he was sprayed in his face and eyes, thrown to the ground, kicked, handcuffed and accused of interfering with the police. The charge was dropped at his first hearing, according to court records.

Damerville sprayed him and Officer Matthew Bigoni tackled him to the ground, according to his suit.

City attorneys initially responded to the lawsuit, saying officers had the authority to temporarily seize Stoyanoff’s sign post, citing it as a dangerous and deadly weapon.

Beebe argued that police acted lawfully when responding to or attempting to prevent a civil disorder or riot, and that any harm to Stoyanoff “was a result of their own actions or inaction or otherwise failure to mitigate the harms.” in a response filed with the court.

During nightly protests in the city following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, a federal judge on June 26, 2020, issued a broad order banning Portland police from firing less-lethal launchers and using pepper spray on people involved. in passive resistance. The decision also called on the police to minimize the exposure of people not involved in the incident to pepper spray.

— Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice issues. Reach him at 503-221-8212, [email protected], follow at X @maxoregonianor on LinkedIn.

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