The case of Jamie Marie Meissner made news when her attorney accused the Department of removing video footage he claimed would show his client being the victim of excessive force. The missing footage was due to an error in editing, leaving the view of one camera and appearing in a second camera. When the footage was found it showed no misconduct by jail staff. The jury made it official: no excessive force.
Jamie Marie Meissner, an Arizona health professional, has lost her lawsuit accusing Orange County Sheriff’s deputies of excessive force while she was being booked into the jail in March 2007.
Meissner, as Watchdog readers may recall, was questioned by Laguna Beach police for jaywalking and arrested on suspicion of giving false information to a police officer.
Video segments of Meissner’s encounter at the jail, included in a previous blog post, did not appear to show any evidence of abuse at the hands of deputies. Her attorney, Stephen Tornay, said it would probably come down to who the jury believed.
Last week, the jury came down on the side of the sheriff’s department.
“It’s not surprising that once the evidence was presented to a jury that they came to the conclusion they did,” said Sheriff’s Commander Tim Board.
To see the Register posting and the accompanying video click here.