Appeals court rejects Memphis appeal in brutality case
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A federal appeals court has sanctioned the city of Memphis for filing a frivolous appeal as it tried to get a police brutality lawsuit dismissed.
The Commercial Appeal reports the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said in a ruling released Monday it was sanctioning the city and an MPD patrolman $1,500 each in connection with police brutality allegations filed by two former University of Memphis football players beaten near Beale Street in 2011.
The ruling was sternly worded, saying the appeals were “so clearly futile and apparently prosecuted for improper purposes.”
Lawyer Robert Spence, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs, says he believes the city filed its appeal as a stall tactic.
City Chief Legal Officer Bruce McMullen says the appeal was necessary because patrolman Marico Flake had already filed an appeal.
