A Bull Shoals man asked a federal judge Tuesday to dismiss his lawsuit against Bull Shoals, its former police chief and an officer that claims they violated his civil rights when he was beaten while handcuffed.
Nicholas Dore's attorney, Benjamin Gibson of Yellville, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that said the parties had reached a settlement agreement. Details of the agreement were not disclosed Tuesday.
"A condition of the settlement is that the plaintiff dismisses with prejudice his claims against all defendants in this matter," a portion of the one-page motion said. Dismissing with prejudice means it cannot be refiled later.
The presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks, did not file a ruling on the motion Tuesday.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Harrison in July 2014, alleged that Police Chief Daniel Sutterfield in the act of arresting Dore on July 9, 2013, kicked and stomped him, struck him in the head with the butt of a shotgun then threw him into a fireplace and wall and repeatedly shocked him with a stun gun, all while Dore was in handcuffs.
Sutterfield has left the department.
Also named in the lawsuit was an officer, David Chatman, and the city of Bull Shoals, which employed both men.
The lawsuit claimed Chatman did nothing to protect Dore from being beaten and later falsified the police report on the arrest on orders from Sutterfield.
Gibson, in response to an email from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette seeking comment Tuesday, said there was a settlement in principle that had not been formalized.
"Until there is a final resolution, I think it would be in the best interest of all involved to keep those details undisclosed," he said.
Attorneys for Sutterfield and Chatman did not respond to requests for comment on the motion Tuesday.
Contacted Tuesday, Bull Shoals Mayor Dave Hotchkiss said he was not aware of any money being involved in the settlement.
North Little Rock attorney Michael Mosely, who represented Bull Shoals, said the city had nothing to do with negotiating the settlement but was included in the motion to dismiss.
Sutterfield was charged in a federal criminal indictment in April 2014 with depriving Dore of his rights under the color of law, conspiracy to falsify records and aiding and abetting falsification of records.
A jury acquitted Sutterfield of the conspiracy and records falsification charges after a four-day trial in July 2014. The jury deadlocked on the rights deprivation charge, and Brooks declared a mistrial on that charge. The government dismissed the charge in August 2014, according to court records.
State Desk on 12/30/2015