PHILADELPHIA – Parent plaintiffs who claimed multiple officers from the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Department violated their civil rights when they executed a search warrant at their home in an attempt to find the plaintiffs’ son, who had been murdered five months before the search took place, have agreed to drop two claims from their case.
Tysha Melton and Eliacin Juarbe first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Dec. 28 versus the City of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff’s Department Chief Rochelle Bilal, Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Byron Hardman and Unknown Sheriff’s Department Officers. All parties are of Philadelphia.
“Travys Taylor, age 28 and plaintiffs’ son, was murdered by a masked gunman at a takeout restaurant in Kensington on Oct. 26, 2021. On Jan. 28, 2022, pending criminal charges against Taylor were dismissed in Pennsylvania court, and the docket was marked ‘Case Dismissed – Defendant Deceased,’ as reflected on Pennsylvania’s Common Pleas Case Management System database. On or about March 25, 2022, defendant Hardman selected an outstanding bench warrant for Taylor to be executed at plaintiffs’ residence. On March 25, 2022, defendant Hardman conducted four database searches, each designed to confirm that the target of a bench warrant likely resides at the target address and is not deceased or incarcerated,” the suit said.
“One of the said databases searched by defendant Hardman includes the CPCMS database, but the type of search ran by defendant Hardman failed to notify him that Taylor had been deceased for 4 months and 27 days, and the CPCMS system did, in fact, note that Taylor was deceased, at least as early as Jan. 28, 2022. On or about March 25, 2022, at 8:30 a.m., plaintiffs were asleep at their residence when there was a banging on the door. Plaintiff Juarbe peeked in their second-floor bedroom window, and viewed and heard various members of law enforcement in black tactical uniform yelling ‘Police! Police! Where is he?”
The suit added that the plaintiffs walked downstairs to the front door and when plaintiff Melton opened the door, more than a dozen officers physically forced their way inside with guns in hand, pushing plaintiff Melton’s lower back into her television stand and directly pointing their guns at the plaintiffs.
“Defendant officers eventually announced they were looking for plaintiffs’ son, Taylor. Taylor had a bench warrant for his arrest for failing to appear in court on marijuana and trespassing charges. Defendant officers searched the upstairs bedroom and found a memorial she built for him: Smiling photos of her son, and a replica of an Eagles helmet atop a box with his ashes,” the suit stated.
“After seeing their warrant was wrongful, defendant officers quickly left the house, covering their badges as they scrambled out the door. On March 25, 2022, and well before said date, defendants Hardman and Bilal were aware of numerous previous instances of the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Department executing search warrants for individuals who were deceased and failed to implement new policies designed to correct said past errors and/or oversights.”
UPDATE
Defense counsel filed a stipulation on Jan. 19 explaining that, along with the wishes of plaintiff counsel, Counts III and IV of the complaint (alleged violations of the Pennsylvania Constitution and negligent infliction of emotional distress) would be dismissed with prejudice, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii).
Four days later, on Jan. 23, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Joshua D. Wolson approved the stipulation and issued a judicial order to that effect.
For counts of violating the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution plus negligent training and supervision, the plaintiffs are seeking compensatory, exemplary and punitive damages, actual damages, a declaration that the conduct and practices of the defendants are unlawful and to enjoin them from similar conduct, consequential damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs and attorney’s fees, and any and all other legal and/or equitable damages this Court sees fit to grant.
The plaintiffs are represented by Mary E. LeMieux-Fillery of the Law Offices of Eric A. Shore, in Philadelphia.
The defendants are represented by Adam Ross Zurbriggen of the City of Philadelphia Law Department’s Civil Rights Unit.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:23-cv-05148
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com