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http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_14949871
It all started when Douglas Bahl, driving to visit his wife in the hospital, ran a red light.
Three and a half years after the traffic stop, Bahl's beating by a policeman, arrest and jailing have become the foundation for a federal lawsuit claiming the city of St. Paul and Ramsey County violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in the way they handled Bahl.
"It's very important to people in the deaf community," said Roderick Macpherson III, an attorney with the Minnesota Disability Law Center who is representing Bahl.
On Friday in a federal courtroom in Minneapolis — and with an American Sign Language interpreter signing the proceedings — lawyers for the city and county argued that Bahl had no claim and said the suit should be thrown out.
"This is a simple case about a deaf man who spent 67 hours in jail because he fought with police," Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Thomas Ring told U.S. District Judge David Doty. "In short, the system worked."
At the end of the 45-minute hearing, Doty said he'd rule later.
Leader In Deaf Community / At its basis, the lawsuit claims police and jailers discriminated against Bahl by failing to communicate effectively with him. As a result of that failure, he was beaten and isolated "in jail for three days with no adequate or effective means of communicating with jail staff or of communicating with his family or other people outside the jail."
But the case has taken on added importance in the deaf community because of Bahl's status there. The former president of the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens is a graduate of Gallaudet University, the Washington, D.C., school that was the world's first institution of higher learning for the deaf and hearing-impaired.
Bahl, of St. Paul, has a degree from the University of Minnesota and is an instructor in American Sign Language Studies at St. Paul College. He also works at Charles Thompson Memorial Hall on Marshall Avenue in St. Paul. The hall, which opened in 1916, bills itself as "the first clubhouse for the deaf in the world."
Bahl, 59, is an unimposing man at 5 feet 7 inches tall. But for whatever reason — the facts are in dispute — a St. Paul police officer wound up pulling him from his car and beating him into submission.
The incident began about 5 p.m. Nov. 17, 2006, when St. Paul police officer Stephen Bobrowski said he saw Bahl run a red light at Marshall Avenue and Finn Street. Bobrowski activated his squad car's lights and pulled Bahl over.
Bahl claims that through gestures, he tried to tell the officer that he was deaf and sought to communicate by writing notes. He says the officer refused, and, according to the suit, "when Mr. Bahl repeated his request and attempted to communicate with the police officer in writing, the police officer sprayed Mr. Bahl with a chemical spray, struck him, and pulled Mr. Bahl from his car."
In his official report, sworn testimony and subsequent criminal complaint (Bahl was charged with two counts of obstructing the legal process), the officer claimed Bahl grabbed his jacket and that when the officer reached in to unbuckle the man's seat belt, Bahl punched him in the arm.
Bahl denies that. "Short of having a death wish, why would anyone grab an armed St. Paul police officer?" Macpherson said.
Officer Safety Concern / For whatever reason, the city appears to be backing off the claim that Bahl grabbed the officer. In her motion for summary judgment filed in March, Assistant City Attorney Judith Hanson stated the city's current version of the traffic stop and makes no mention of Bahl's alleged grab.
She wrote that Bobrowski "pointed to his own lips and slowly mouthed 'driver's license,' gesturing with his hands in a small rectangular shape, to indicate a driver's license."
She wrote that Bahl didn't produce his license, shook his head and said "no." He turned his back on the officer and reached for the car's center console.
"Bobrowski did not know what Bahl was doing and could not see his hands," she wrote, going on to say the officer grabbed Bahl's wrist and Bahl pulled away.
"Bobrowski determined for officer safety he must get Bahl out of the car," Hanson wrote. "Bobrowski tried unsuccessfully to pull Bahl from the car. Therefore, Bobrowski showed Bahl his aerosol subject restraint (ASR). Bahl shook his head again, so Bobrowski sprayed him with the ASR to gain control over him."
The officer pulled Bahl from the car. Another officer arrived and as the two policemen tried to handcuff Bahl, the second officer kicked the man's arm, Hanson wrote. The police "observed Bahl's face and saw he was injured," so they called paramedics, who took Bahl to the hospital, she wrote.
After treatment, Bahl was taken to the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center; he was there from Friday evening to the following Monday afternoon. His suit claims he made several requests to the city and later the county for a sign-language interpreter, but one was never provided.
With no interpreter, "defendants did not effectively communicate information to him, including ... information concerning the charges against him, procedures relating to his detainment, how he could be released from the Adult Detention Center, and his medical condition," Bahl's suit claims.
Which Side Impeded Communication? / "The city had an obligation under state law, under federal law, to effectively communicate the reason for his arrest," Macpherson told the judge. "Bahl never had the opportunity to tell his side of the story before charges were brought against him."
But Hanson told Doty that there was no discrimination and that Bahl was treated like anyone else.
"There's no tangible injury," she said.
She said that Bahl's demand for a pencil and paper to communicate with the officer was unreasonable and that Bahl is the one who impeded communication. "Mr. Bahl wanted to control the situation," she said.
While in jail, Bahl made a number of requests for "auxiliary" means of communication, such as e-mail, so he could tell friends or relatives where he was. The requests, Macpherson told the judge, "were met with indifference ... or hostility. He was told, 'Learn your lesson: Jail sucks.' "
But Ring said Bahl's requests to use e-mail were unreasonable and not required under the law.
"It's a jail, not a Best Western motel," the assistant county attorney told Doty.
In September 2007, a six-member Ramsey County jury found Bahl guilty of misdemeanor obstructing legal process but acquitted him of the more serious charge of obstructing legal process with force.
A judge gave him a 60-day suspended sentence, fined him $700 and ordered him to take an anger-management course.
It all started when Douglas Bahl, driving to visit his wife in the hospital, ran a red light.
Three and a half years after the traffic stop, Bahl's beating by a policeman, arrest and jailing have become the foundation for a federal lawsuit claiming the city of St. Paul and Ramsey County violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in the way they handled Bahl.
"It's very important to people in the deaf community," said Roderick Macpherson III, an attorney with the Minnesota Disability Law Center who is representing Bahl.
On Friday in a federal courtroom in Minneapolis — and with an American Sign Language interpreter signing the proceedings — lawyers for the city and county argued that Bahl had no claim and said the suit should be thrown out.
"This is a simple case about a deaf man who spent 67 hours in jail because he fought with police," Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Thomas Ring told U.S. District Judge David Doty. "In short, the system worked."
At the end of the 45-minute hearing, Doty said he'd rule later.
Leader In Deaf Community / At its basis, the lawsuit claims police and jailers discriminated against Bahl by failing to communicate effectively with him. As a result of that failure, he was beaten and isolated "in jail for three days with no adequate or effective means of communicating with jail staff or of communicating with his family or other people outside the jail."
But the case has taken on added importance in the deaf community because of Bahl's status there. The former president of the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens is a graduate of Gallaudet University, the Washington, D.C., school that was the world's first institution of higher learning for the deaf and hearing-impaired.
Bahl, of St. Paul, has a degree from the University of Minnesota and is an instructor in American Sign Language Studies at St. Paul College. He also works at Charles Thompson Memorial Hall on Marshall Avenue in St. Paul. The hall, which opened in 1916, bills itself as "the first clubhouse for the deaf in the world."
Bahl, 59, is an unimposing man at 5 feet 7 inches tall. But for whatever reason — the facts are in dispute — a St. Paul police officer wound up pulling him from his car and beating him into submission.
The incident began about 5 p.m. Nov. 17, 2006, when St. Paul police officer Stephen Bobrowski said he saw Bahl run a red light at Marshall Avenue and Finn Street. Bobrowski activated his squad car's lights and pulled Bahl over.
Bahl claims that through gestures, he tried to tell the officer that he was deaf and sought to communicate by writing notes. He says the officer refused, and, according to the suit, "when Mr. Bahl repeated his request and attempted to communicate with the police officer in writing, the police officer sprayed Mr. Bahl with a chemical spray, struck him, and pulled Mr. Bahl from his car."
In his official report, sworn testimony and subsequent criminal complaint (Bahl was charged with two counts of obstructing the legal process), the officer claimed Bahl grabbed his jacket and that when the officer reached in to unbuckle the man's seat belt, Bahl punched him in the arm.
Bahl denies that. "Short of having a death wish, why would anyone grab an armed St. Paul police officer?" Macpherson said.
Officer Safety Concern / For whatever reason, the city appears to be backing off the claim that Bahl grabbed the officer. In her motion for summary judgment filed in March, Assistant City Attorney Judith Hanson stated the city's current version of the traffic stop and makes no mention of Bahl's alleged grab.
She wrote that Bobrowski "pointed to his own lips and slowly mouthed 'driver's license,' gesturing with his hands in a small rectangular shape, to indicate a driver's license."
She wrote that Bahl didn't produce his license, shook his head and said "no." He turned his back on the officer and reached for the car's center console.
"Bobrowski did not know what Bahl was doing and could not see his hands," she wrote, going on to say the officer grabbed Bahl's wrist and Bahl pulled away.
"Bobrowski determined for officer safety he must get Bahl out of the car," Hanson wrote. "Bobrowski tried unsuccessfully to pull Bahl from the car. Therefore, Bobrowski showed Bahl his aerosol subject restraint (ASR). Bahl shook his head again, so Bobrowski sprayed him with the ASR to gain control over him."
The officer pulled Bahl from the car. Another officer arrived and as the two policemen tried to handcuff Bahl, the second officer kicked the man's arm, Hanson wrote. The police "observed Bahl's face and saw he was injured," so they called paramedics, who took Bahl to the hospital, she wrote.
After treatment, Bahl was taken to the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center; he was there from Friday evening to the following Monday afternoon. His suit claims he made several requests to the city and later the county for a sign-language interpreter, but one was never provided.
With no interpreter, "defendants did not effectively communicate information to him, including ... information concerning the charges against him, procedures relating to his detainment, how he could be released from the Adult Detention Center, and his medical condition," Bahl's suit claims.
Which Side Impeded Communication? / "The city had an obligation under state law, under federal law, to effectively communicate the reason for his arrest," Macpherson told the judge. "Bahl never had the opportunity to tell his side of the story before charges were brought against him."
But Hanson told Doty that there was no discrimination and that Bahl was treated like anyone else.
"There's no tangible injury," she said.
She said that Bahl's demand for a pencil and paper to communicate with the officer was unreasonable and that Bahl is the one who impeded communication. "Mr. Bahl wanted to control the situation," she said.
While in jail, Bahl made a number of requests for "auxiliary" means of communication, such as e-mail, so he could tell friends or relatives where he was. The requests, Macpherson told the judge, "were met with indifference ... or hostility. He was told, 'Learn your lesson: Jail sucks.' "
But Ring said Bahl's requests to use e-mail were unreasonable and not required under the law.
"It's a jail, not a Best Western motel," the assistant county attorney told Doty.
In September 2007, a six-member Ramsey County jury found Bahl guilty of misdemeanor obstructing legal process but acquitted him of the more serious charge of obstructing legal process with force.
A judge gave him a 60-day suspended sentence, fined him $700 and ordered him to take an anger-management course.
How is that unreasonable? How is that wanting to control the situation? More like trying to establish communication.