do you remember this video from Los anus County Colorado where this guy gets pulled over and then his father pulls up behind in a white pickup truck and tries to wait ask a little snippy what's the problem is what's the problem yeah yeah you're following too closely can't you see the roads are icy you see me slowing down and you're still cre coming up behind me do you need to be behind this traffic stop yeah I do it's my son right there he was following me too okay he's on traffic stuff so you don't need to be behind it you got to be mean oh I'm not being mean we just don't like when people pull in behind us I that's what we get paid to do to pull people over you don't get paid to be a your you don't either okay I don't got to put up with your bull okay I asked you a simple question no I don't I'm waiting on my son he's my ride back to wall leave leave St Stay Stay Stay hey stop the stop the get car get the fing go get out theing car but he gets tased in the face well there's been a huge final update in that case there has now been a settlement of the civil lawsuit for $1.5 [Music] million yeah so the Father Here Kenneth Espinosa ended up getting $1.5 million in a settlement for getting tased in the face now why so much well the main officer involved here a guy named TR truila had a history in fact just 12 days before he arrested Mr espanosa the county had settled a different Federal lawsuit alleging that truo and and a guy named Noel used excessive force when they forcibly arrested a deaf woman in a hospital where she was recovering from a suicide attempt the deputies have been called to the hospital not for an alleged crime but just to transport her for treatment but this incident all began when officer Noel also involved in that in that other event pulled over Mr espino's son for following him too closely Windows Frozen okay what's up Deputy no with sh's office let me get your driver's license hold that dog now get back ask a little snippy what's the problem is what's the problem yeah yeah you're following too closely can't you see the roads are icy you see me slowing down and you're still C coming up behind me there's no reason for you to be doing that Brakes in it's not good don't tell me how I should be driving okay I'm in a MK all right well I'm inan a that doesn't give you the right to follow a mark patrol car close like that what if I had to stop I know there is ice there that's why I was cruising so I don't slip there's no reason for you to be trapped be that close behind a mark patrol car Kenneth Espinosa had been going to the same place that his son was driving to when he saw that his son was pulled over he also pulled over to wait and to watch but the deputies approached they told him to leave he initially refused to leave but then they told him to leave but then they told him not to leave and that's when they tased him in the face do you need to be behind this traffic stop yeah I do why it's my son right there he was following me to okay he's on a traffic stop so you don't need to be behind it you got to be mean I'm not being mean we just don't like when people pull in behind us I don't like them that's what we get paid to do to pull people over you don't get paid to be [ __ ] you're you don't either okay I don't got to put up with your [ __ ] okay I asked you a simple question okay hold on in fact you need to leave now or you're going to get charged it's that [Applause] easy I'm recording I'm recording too I asked you a simple question if you have a shitty attitude that's your problem okaying on my door yeah you saw me and you rolled your window up when I came hold on a second okay rolled your window up when I walked up okay so I knocked on your window okay you are not a cop you don't need to be behind you so you need to leave right now I don't need to do anything I'm 5 Seconds to leave okay there's no reason for you to be behind this traffic stop no reason public stre no reason it's not a public do I not pay do you always stop behind cops when they pull people over I Ain stop right okay you don't need to be here I behind you need to go no I don't I'm waiting on my son he's my ride back leave leave that's the Stay Stay Stay Stay hey stop the stop the get out the car get out the fing car get out theing car get out theing car what are you going to do s55 give me that radio get out theing car get out the car get out theing car get out the car get out theing car the footage then shows the father being tased multiple times including while he was handcuffed you guys you do what you're told all right you think it's okay just to roll up on traffic stops not do what you're told now you go to jail what do you want done with your original guy he's going to get a citation he's staying there that's my original stuff okay what do what do you want from us what can we do to help uh we should be good okay um I got Med coming to check him out okay all right you guys are good with us all you I don't believe that this was known at the time that I did my first video on this but according to the Denver Post investigations into this incident showed that there was a superviser here in the sheriff's department a guy named Santa Steven I'm I'm not sure how in the world you pronounce that that he signed off on a use of force report on Espinosa here getting tased in the face that he signed off on this report without even reviewing the case or even reviewing the officer's body cam additionally an independent report from the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office recommended a criminal investigation into trilo and no now when this lawsuit kicked off it exposed trillo's criminal history in five civil protection orders requested against him now when I see that that doesn't necessarily mean a lot except for the number five a civil protection order being requested anybody can request those if I'm assuming these are like domestic violence protective orders um anybody can request those and they're fairly easily granted except against police officers also doesn't say whether they were all from the same like crazy person or something so that alone isn't necessarily something but apparently also trilo has been convicted of several criminal charges between 1997 and 2009 in Los anus County including displaying a weapon harassment and fighting in public also in case I didn't mention it before Mr Espinosa did face several charges in connection with this incident but the prosecutors later wisely dropped all of the charges so $1.5 million I've seen some people saying well it should have been more well these sorts of cases remember you have qualified immunity any $1.5 million settlement in a lawsuit against the government um for police tasing somebody is a fantastic result and why was it a fantastic result here well you had everything that I just listed about this police officer's background why is that important because generally in section 1983 cases the reality is is we have to sue the individual police officer so what that means is when it comes time for trial you have the police officer sitting there as a defendant not like the mayor or the sheriff of a county or the County Commissioners and the jurors are not told that the the county or the city is going to pay whatever Judgment Day award so here you have a history of misconduct and you have the county really being on notice that this guy has passed criminal charges has passed complaints of excessive force perhaps there was a great monell claim here which is the exception where you can sue the the county or the city not the state because of the 11th Amendment but you can sue the county or the city for like a pattern or practice of constitutional violations and that could just include having this guy out there pulling people over and confronting citizens with a badge when they knew or should have known that he was he was a bad guy that he had done this before and was likely to do it again and I I think that may have played a part here because then the jurors know that the the county itself is on the hook here and that tends to um increase you know verdict amounts so that may have been a big part of that another important thing that we look for here as civil rights lawyers in cases like this is you have a victim Mr espanosa who was completely innocent he wasn't suspected of having committed any crime whatsoever he had a perfectly reasonable explanation to be where he was he was traveling going to the same place as his son he stopped and observed the traffic stop which he had every right to do he wasn't even close he parked way back he wasn't causing these police officers any problem at all so you have a bad cop you have a completely innocent plth and then you have a jurisdiction Colorado where there have been um large jury verdict Awards against police officers such as one I just did a video on the SWAT raid with with the grandma so there it is the final update on this case as always thanks for watching please subscribe both here and at the blog at the Civil Rights lawyer.com if you have a video that you want me to review please use the submission link below please also follow me on Twitter at John Brian Esq or on Facebook at the John hban attorney at law page remember freedom is scary deal with it [Music]