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FLORIDA RECORD

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Judge recommends dismissing suit against Miami-Dade County in excessive force case

Lawsuits

MIAMI – A federal magistrate judge recently recommended the dismissal a damage suit that claimed excessive use of force by a police officer and alleged Miami-Dade County failed to provide proper training to its police officers.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea Simonton, in her Nov. 5 recommendation to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, agreed with the county's motion to dismiss the suit brought by Sharees Peters Jackson, who claimed she was the victim of excessive force by a police officer.  However, the filing said Jackson can file an amended complaint containing the proper documentation supporting her allegations.

Jackson sued Police Officer Mark H. Silmack and the County over an alleged incident outside a bar on New Year's Eve, 2013.

According to court documents, she claims Slimack “illegally and deliberately used excessive force and unlawfully arrested Ms. Jackson in violation of multiple Miami-Dade County Police Department (MDPD) policies and well-established law."

Jackson also claims that the county failed to carry out a proper investigation on whether the police officer "conducted himself properly and in compliance with the MDPD procedures."

In the county's motion to dismiss, the county argued that Jackson's complaint did not include sufficient facts or documentation to "establish a plausible claim that the county is liable for the plaintiff’s alleged injuries."

Simonton agreed, saying the documents in the complaint "do not reflect that the county was aware of a specific problem involving excessive force that was the product of deficient training."

"There are no specific instances of excessive force, or training needs, contained in the documents," the recommendation said. The complaint does not include allegations regarding the actions of an independent panel that reviews police actions, and "it is unclear how the failure to take action in 2018 is causally related to events that occurred on Dec. 31, 2013, and Jan. 1, 2014."

Simonton permitted Jackson to file a second amended complaint.

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