Amsterdam pair file suit, allege rights violated during search
AMSTERDAM — The attorney for a pair of city residents has filed a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations against the city of Amsterdam, Fulton County, arresting officers and any other individuals involved in the search of the couple’s home and the arrest of one of the residents in August 2019.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York by attorney Vincent Uba of Albany on behalf of Kevin Ortiz and Nicole Damphier on March 24.
Ortiz and Damphier are accusing city and county law enforcement agencies of unreasonable search and seizure, excessive force, false arrest, malicious prosecution, abuse of legal process and conspiracy to violate the plaintiffs’ federal rights in connection with a search that was conducted at their Amsterdam home on Aug. 14, 2019.
The suit alleges the search was conducted “in the middle of the night; without warrant, without plaintiffs’ consent, and without any legal justification.” Police allegedly entered the home at 5:30 a.m. while Ortiz and Damphier were sleeping.
The suit says the pair awoke to the sound of breaking glass as their front door was breached followed by “many footsteps coming up the stairs of their home.”
Both plaintiffs went to the bedroom of Damphier’s 10-year-old daughter who Damphier instructed to hide under the bed, the suit says. Damphier, who was six months pregnant at the time, was standing in the bedroom when officers in tactical gear entered the room and allegedly “body slammed” her onto the floor, the lawsuit says.
Police are then accused of pointing a gun at Damphier’s face while searching the room. Officers located Damphier’s daughter, followed by Ortiz who was hiding in a closet, the lawsuit says. Ortiz was pulled out of the closet and “body slammed” onto the floor where an officer pressed their foot into his back before he was handcuffed, removed from the home and transported to the station, the lawsuit alleges. Officers did not offer any explanation of the allegations against Ortiz when asked, the lawsuit says.
Damphier was allegedly questioned at this time and then removed from the home with her daughter while the residence was searched by city police. The lawsuit alleges that consent for the search was not given and that police did not have a search warrant, information that was indicated on a related police report filed as an exhibit in the lawsuit.
During the incident, according to the lawsuit, the home was “rummaged and ransacked.” The phones of both plaintiffs and Damphier’s daughter were allegedly seized and have not yet been returned.
Following the search, charges were filed against Ortiz in Broadalbin Town Court and he was incarcerated from Aug. 14 through Aug. 19. The police report supporting the lawsuit indicates Ortiz was charged with felony counts of first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, second-degree strangulation, first-degree reckless endangerment and fourth-degree grand larceny.
The lawsuit includes a decision issued by Broadalbin Town Court Judge Joseph W. Gilston on Aug. 19, 2019 dismissing the charges against Ortiz and ordering his release after Gilston “found there was no probable cause” that Ortiz had committed a felony after reviewing the facts of the case during a preliminary hearing.
The lawsuit acknowledges an arrest warrant for Ortiz was obtained prior to the incident, but alleges the facts presented by police in the application for the document were “materially false.” The legal filing alleges that officers exceeded the scope of the arrest warrant by “breaking into” and searching the plaintiffs’ home and arresting Ortiz without a search warrant.
Ortiz and Damphier are seeking an award for “fair and reasonable” compensatory and punitive damages in amounts to be determined at trial against the named defendants, alleging they continue to “suffer severe trauma, flashbacks, anxiety and are in constant apprehension during the night while sleeping in their home” as a result of the incident.
The lawsuit further alleges the plaintiffs incurred significant legal fees related to the charges filed against Ortiz and suffered “significant physical pain and suffering from being excessively and violently thrown on the floor” in seeking the awards.
Awards for legal fees and any other relief deemed “just and proper” by the court are also sought.
Named as defendants in the case are the city of Amsterdam, Fulton County, arresting officers with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office Curtis and Grose who were identified only by their last names, Keith Manners and Maria Mosso. Also named are “John and/or Jane Doe,” representing city or county employees involved in the incident whose identities or level of involvement are unknown by the plaintiffs at this time.
Uba on Monday explained the delay between the time of the incident and the filing of the lawsuit was due in part to coronavirus-related court closures and the time his clients needed to prepare to take legal action.
“The clients had to be ready to file the lawsuit, it was a very, very traumatic ordeal for them. They had to get themselves in the right mental and emotional state to do anything,” Uba said. “When we were getting ready to move forward COVID hit.”
Uba said his clients, who are Black and Hispanic, have been “living in fear” since the incident. He pointed to similarities between the incident and the forced entry by police into the apartment of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky in March 2020. Taylor, an unarmed Black woman, was shot and killed during the raid by police who sought her ex-boyfriend, who was not at the address.
“What happened to Breonna Taylor could have easily happened to any of my clients, that is a trauma they are living with,” Uba said.
Calls to Fulton County Attorney Jason Brott and Amsterdam Corporation Counsel Anthony Casale seeking comment on the lawsuit were not returned on Monday.