Edward Locke is the Chief of Police, for Bella Villa, Missouri. Chief Locke has faced numerous allegations of sexual misconduct. (Collected cases here). Numerous women have accused him of conduct ranging from photographing their pubic areas, to sexual battery.
When Locke sought to molest another victim, the victim's husband non-violently confronted Locke. Here is what allegedly happened:
Chief Locke thrust his knee between [Diane's] legs, and while Diane was still leaning on the hood of the patrol car, Chief Locke began to paw and stroke her, beginning at Diane’s waist and moving down to her buttocks. Diane testified Chief Locke was “rubbing down [her] butt onto and around [her] inner/outer thighs, [and then] around the front.” Diane could hear Michael and Walkmaster yelling, but she told them, “I’ll take care of it. It will be okay.” Diane claims Chief Locke then slid his hands under her sweater and began “working his hands up from [her] waist up to [her] sides towards [her] breasts.”
Cook v. City of Bella Villa, No: 08-2712 (8th Cir. Oct. 2, 2009) (here). How did Locke respond? He tasered the husband:
Michael stepped out of the car at that point and was yelling at Chief Locke. Diane claims less than a minute passed from the time Chief Locke began to touch her to the time Michael stepped out of the vehicle.
Amazingly, two judges of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a citizen has no right to tell a police officer to stop sexually molesting one's wife. If a cop molests your wife in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, you must simply watch:
In evaluating Appellees’ motion for summary judgment, the district court concluded, “[Chief] Locke’s conduct, in tasering and causing Michael’s head to strike the subject vehicles, [was] objectively reasonable as a matter of law.” The court continued, “In addition to being alone and outnumbered by presumably intoxicated suspects, Diane’s sarcastic comments and noncompliance, coupled with Michael’s wayward behavior in exiting the vehicle and opposing Locke’s arrest and/or search could lead a reasonable officer to respond in the manner described of [Chief] Locke.” We agree.
The two judges overstated the factual allegations. No one was out of control. No one had threatened Locke. They simply told the Chief of Police, "No means no." The panel's ruling is therefore legally unsustainable.
Judge Morris S. Arnold dissented from this appalling ruling:
Based on the facts as alleged by Michael, Michael witnessed Chief Locke touching Diane in a way that Michael believed to be inappropriate. When Chief Locke began moving his hands underneath Diane’s shirt toward her breast area, Michael exited the vehicle. Michael stated, “Yo, dude, what’s the problem? You can’tbe touching her thataway.” When Michael made those comments, he was standing beside the car. Chief Locke told Michael that Chief Locke would talk to Michael ina minute. Michael remained where he was, smoking a cigarette. Chief Locke then walked Diane to where Michael was standing. Michael took one step toward Chief Locke. Chief Locke told Michael to “[g]et back in the fucking car” and, at the same time, Chief Locke tasered Michael. Michael never saw the taser.
Unfortunately for the Constitution and citizens of Bella Villa, this isn't the first time the Eighth Circuit has let Locke escape liability. In Schmidt v. City of Bella Villa, 557 F.3d 564 (8th Cir. 2009) (here), Locke rubbed a woman's breast. A unanimous three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case against Locke.
What does Edward Locke need to do in order to be held liable? Are you waiting for him to "graduate" from sexual battery to full-on rape?
