TS - Ferndale council rejects Marsh's claim

All I have to say is that, if there is to be a lawsuit, Cunningham is going after the wrong person/entity if he goes after Ferndale. One person could have stopped this madness, and had the responsibility to do so - the Humboldt County District Attorney, Paul Gallegos, who "personally investigated" the "crime," a street corner in Ferndale.

Ferndale council rejects Marsh's claim
Jessie Faulkner The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 06/21/2007 04:42:10 AM PDT
FERNDALE -- A former resident's $25,000 claim alleging the police chief violated his civil rights was unanimously rejected by the City Council, which opens the door for a lawsuit, the city's attorney said Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the council rejected the claim by Sean Marsh in a 4-0 vote during a closed session. Councilman Michael Moreland was not present. Marsh filed the claim in response to his arrest last year on charges of child endangerment. He was acquitted in February.

City Attorney David Martinek said Tuesday that state law allows a City Council to reject a claim or wait 45 days without action, at which point a claim is deemed rejected. If the claimant decides to pursue legal action, Martinek said, he or she has six months to file a lawsuit.

Martinek said he had not received notice from Marsh or Marsh's attorney that they plan to file a lawsuit.

The child endangerment charges -- stemming from allegations he let his 2-year-old son almost run into Main Street in May 2006 -- and resisting arrest.

The former owner of Village Baking and Catering in Ferndale was also accused of declining to provide written proof of identification to Ferndale Police Chief Lonnie Lawson.

Marsh's attorney, Dennis Cunningham of San Francisco, provided a copy of the claim. Repeated attempts to acquire a copy from the city of Ferndale were unsuccessful.

Lawson arrested Marsh and booked him into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility after the May 2006 incident, where he remained overnight on $50,000 bail. According to the claim, Marsh was released the following morning with the explanation that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. Marsh was subsequently charged with child endangerment and resisting arrest.

The three-page claim identifies Lawson as the responsible official and states that Marsh suffered the public humiliation of being falsely arrested and the arrest made him miss a work-related assignment that ultimately led to loss of his job.

”At the hands of defendant Lawson,” the claim stated, “claimant Sean Marsh then suffered ongoing humiliation, harassment and expense when he was vindictively prosecuted on groundless charges, of which he was eventually acquitted; and the stigma of being accused on child endangerment persists.”