Men assaulted by Honolulu officer file lawsuit against city
The two men who were assaulted by an on-duty Honolulu police officer at an illegal game room have a filed a federal lawsuit in an attempt to hold the city liable.
Francisco Franson and Jordon Topinio say in their lawsuit filed Sunday that the city is responsible for the 2014 attack because the police department failed to properly train and supervise its officers.
A police department spokeswoman declined to comment on pending litigation. Spokesmen for the city didn’t immediately comment.
Vincent Morre resigned from the force after pleading guilty to violating the men’s civil rights. He’s serving a 2 ½ year sentence at a low-security federal prison in California.
Morre is sued in his individual capacity, along with two officers who witnessed the assault but omitted it from their reports.
According to the lawsuit, Morre was in plain clothes with his HPD badge around his neck when he entered the game room and ordered Topinio to take off his hat. “Mr. Topinio complied and removed his hat, but without provocation, defendant Morre proceeded to kick Mr. Topinio in the face,” the lawsuit said.
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Morre then continued searching for a fugitive in the game room and returned to where Topinio and Franson were sitting next to each other. Morre, punched and kicked Franson. He then kicked Topinio again and hurled a stool at his head.
Other officers tried to intimidate the two men after the attack, said their lawyer Myles Breiner.
“I anticipate the city not taking responsibility for all three officers’ conduct,” he said.
17 responses to “Men assaulted by Honolulu officer file lawsuit against city”
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There goes the raises for the next two years. With Chief Kealoha himself embroiled in a family matter that became public, anything is possible. It is a few bad apples that stain the entire bunch, however, it is up to management to constantly sift through the ranks to determine possible bad apples. One of them became a Major before being disgraced out of the force. One of them had to decline promotion to an assistant chief in order to keep things even keel. I personally spoke to an officer recently who seemed to be authoritative without any reason. I can’t give any more details without revealing my identity. I can say though that without asking, the officer looked as though he was a famous officer.
There are a very small minority of LEOs in city, state, and federal capacity suffering from “Disrespect from the law syndrome.” Characterized by, talking down to those they come in contact with, being told you were breaking the law even when the LEO knows you were not, not listening to what you say, excessive false charges if arrested, other issues.
In worst cases, like a long vehicle or foot chase, the person, when caught, is beaten severely by one or more officers while other ones watch and do nothing. Later in the report it will say the person was “Resisting arrest.”
Only when confronted with video evidence to the contrary to what these substandard officers say and do will justice rule.
agree..Kealoha has been an utter disaster for HPD.
Another of thousands of examples of the “Weak Link” the HPD Police Chief is. “two officers who witnessed the assault but omitted it from their reports.” Willing to bet nothing happened to these two unprofessional, substandard HPD officers until it became public knowledge.
Appears to be standard practice for HPD officers to willfully fail to be professional on the job, work according to HPD standards, be of high ethical and moral character.
Due the willful failure of the HPD Chief to hold officers accountable, lead by example, civilian oversight of HPD is the only way to clean this mess up.
oh no, here we go again.
If all facts are true, “Vincent Morre resigned from the force after pleading guilty to violating the men’s civil rights. He’s serving a 2 ½ year sentence at a low-security federal prison in California.” the state will be responsible for compensation.
What is the state doing to prevent further occurrence’s?
I’m sorry that the police officer did what he did. He should be dealt with severely. However, I have a hard time that someone involved in an illegal activity “The two men who were assaulted by an on-duty Honolulu police officer at an illegal game room” should have the right to sue. Why can’t a law be passed to prohibit the ability to sue if you are involved in an illegal act? It seems that someone breaking into my house, who cuts their arm and loses a limb from breaking the glass, might have the right to sue me as a result. Or what about the people who bypass trespassing signs and are injured on state land due to a fall? Or how about the young adult who was walking on the roof of a building (trespassing) and fell off? That one ACTUALLY has happened (Bodine v. Enterprise High School ) and he sued and won – though not as much as he wanted…
IF they were involved in illegal activities, that’s what Morre should have dealt with. Instead he decided to kick and punch them. Why? Because he’s a little punk who had a badge. He is where he belongs and I’m sure he is not kicking and punching anyone in Club Fed because those men would fight back.
So you believe law enforcement officers get to be judge, jury, and executioner?
Jay walking is an illegal activity. If an officer beat you up because of that, you’re saying you should not have the right to sue? If your response is that jay walking is a minor illegal activity, then who gets to decide what is minor and what is not? Illegal is illegal. Your argument lacks logic.
Convicted of a felony is very different than convicted of a misdemeanor, so the argument that “illegal is illegal” doesn’t hold water. I made it clear that the officer should be dealt with severely. The rest of my comments are separate. There are problems with the suggestion, of course, but I was trying to start a discussion on what could be done.
Would be interested to read investigative reporting on the criminal history of those two plaintiffs
Would be interesting if everyone who had their rights violated by Morre would come forward. I highly doubt this was an isolated incident. If the feds didn’t step in to investigate and prosecute, he wold more than likely still be on the job with HPD. Maybe a promotion would be thrown in for good measure.
Reward them with one dollar each and send them on their way.
Of course they did.
The surveillance video catching these HPD officers acting like out of control gang thugs was persuasive and what got these HPD convicted and will end up requirimg Oahu residents to pay millions in compensation to those who got beat up by these out of control cops. This is also the reason why HPD is so resistant to wear body cameras. HPD is completely out of control under Kealoha and pressure from the public and mayor has to be put on the impotent police commision to force Kealoha to retire. Unfortunately this will not happen and the only hope is the feds continue to pursue HPD and national media picks up this story, including the out of control corruption with the Oahu train to nowhere endless money pit project
agree
Fark hpd.