Lawyer Arrested At SB1070 Protest Looks To Continue Lawsuit Against Maricopa County

By Jude Joffe-Block
October 08, 2014

The
Jude Joffe-Block
The team from Seton Hall Law School representing Sunita Patel — Barbara Moses, Brian Spadora and Tyler Sims — at the spot where Patel was arrested.

PHOENIX — An attorney who came to Phoenix to protect the civil rights of protesters says she herself was unfairly arrested by Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies. She’s suing the county and several members of the Sheriff’s office.

A lower court threw out the case, but on Wednesday her lawyers argued before a panel of judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The arrest in question happened on July 29, 2010, at a protest against Arizona immigration law SB 1070 in downtown Phoenix. The law took effect that day, though key provisions had been blocked by a federal judge.

Sunita Patel, a lawyer from the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, was there to observe any civil rights violations against protetsers.

Protesters blocked the driveway of the 4th Avenue jail. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies ordered the driveway to be cleared. Several people formed human chains in civil disobedience, and were arrested for not leaving the driveway.

Patel was wearing a neon green hat that said "legal observer" and had a camera. But deputies arrested her and another legal observer.

“When I was pulled in, I was shocked,” Patel said in an interview by phone. She is now a clinical professor at American University's Washington College of Law. She claims she was detained for 15 hours.

The U.S. Department of Justice later mentioned another arrest from that day in a letter detailing alleged civil rights violations by MCSO. The criminal case against Patel was eventually dismissed, but she had to spend money on a lawyer and traveling back to Phoenix for court.

“I couldn’t help thinking this was just another step in Sheriff’s Arpaio’s attempt to create a culture of fear,” Patel said.

Patel sued Maricopa County and several members of the Sheriff’s office for damages stemming from wrongful arrest. In her complaint, she lists other examples of civil suits against the county by individuals for MCSO violations, such as suits by former Phoenix New Times publisher Michael Lacey, and another by former county supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox.

Patel originally claimed she was standing on the sidewalk when she was arrested and had complied with deputies’ orders. But video footage showed she was actually in a gutter area between the asphalt driveway and the sidewalk. A lower court judge dismissed Patel’s suit before it could go to a jury to decide.

Patel appealed for the chance to have the case proceed to a jury. A civil rights clinic based at Seton Hall Law School in New Jersey is representing her.

In front of a three-judge panel of Ninth Circuit judges on Wednesday, law student Tyler Sims argued the MCSO deputy was wrong to arrest Patel when she had moved to the gutter.

“She placed herself where she was but in a good faith effort to comply with the order,” Sims said. “You can see it clearly from the video.”

Judge Barry Silverman interrupted.

“How was the officer supposed to know that her motive was one thing when he says clear the area and she is still in the street?” Silverman asked.

The lawyer representing Maricopa County, Ann Uglietta, argued the video showed offices had probable cause to arrest Patel. 

Uglietta also argued that deputies are protected by qualified immunity from the suit. 

The three-judge panel will now decide if Patel's suit can go forward. Wednesday's oral argument was held in Phoenix. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rarely hears cases in Phoenix, but two three-judge panels are in town this week.