Claims of excessive force by Arkansas inmate rejected by jury

FAYETTEVILLE -- A U.S. District Court jury last week rejected the excessive force claims of a man convicted of shooting at Fayetteville police during a standoff four years ago.

Sergio Hidalgo Andrade Martinez claims in his civil-rights lawsuit that Chris Fields, a jailer in the Washington County jail, used excessive force against him while he was in the jail awaiting trial. The lawsuit named several other county jail employees and supervisors, but those claims were dismissed before trial.

U.S. District Judge Tim Brooks dismissed the case in 2014, but it was remanded on appeal. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that there was a jury issue because Fields didn't meet his burden of proof showing Martinez exhausted all available administrative remedies.

Jurors found Friday that Fields did not use excessive force, and Brooks dismissed the case.

Martinez is serving time in state prison for convictions on eight counts of attempted capital murder. He shot Fayetteville police officer Blake Williamson in the ankle and shot at seven other officers during a standoff at an apartment complex in March 2012. Martinez was sentenced in December 2012 to 147 years in prison. Should Martinez ever be released, federal authorities will deport him to Mexico.

In his civil suit, Martinez claims he doesn't speak English and while he was a pretrial detainee he pushed an intercom button for help and was answered in English. After being unable to communicate, Martinez said he pushed the button again and a jailer came to the cell, threw him to the floor and pulled his arms behind his back to handcuff him. Martinez said his arm cracked and hurt, according to the suit.

Martinez was taken to a hospital where an examination found his arm was dislocated and broken, according to the suit.

In 2014, Brooks reviewed video of the incident and found that Martinez caused the physical contact.

"It was plaintiff's resistance to being removed from the pod that precipitated what he describes as a 'sudden physical attack,'" Brooks wrote in his 2014 opinion. "By bracing himself to prevent his removal from the pod, he created the situation that required officer Fields to use force and cannot be surprised that his resistance was also met with force."

Metro on 11/22/2016

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