Liz Nichols, Occupy Portland protester, Charged $7,116 for City's Fees

[xocet]

Pepper-sprayed Occupy Portland protester Liz Nichols gets $7,116 payment demand from city
By Aimee Green, The Oregonian

Pay up.

That’s the message Portland is sending Elizabeth Evon Nichols -- to the tune of $7,116.

Nichols is the Occupy Portland protester whose image became widely known for being blasted in the face with pepper spray by a Portland police officer in fall 2011. She sued the city for excessive force but lost after a four-day trial in August in U.S. District Court in Portland.

She had sought $30,000, noting the excruciating pain of pepper spray in her eyes and throat -- and the ensuing nightmares, depression and worsening eczema.

...

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/01/pepper-sprayed_occupy_portland.html

No comment.

[blkmusclmachine]

1. ,

,

[pinboy3niner]

2. It's a heavy-handed tactic by the city to pressure her to drop her appeal

The Oregonian, in an update to its initial story posted this afternoon, quotes a deputy city attorney laying bare the city's calculus.

Deputy city attorney David Landrum said he offered to drop the city's pursuit of costs if Nichols agreed to waive an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He called Nichols' attorneys with the offer.

"I said I don't need to drag this money out of her," Landrum said, noting that he knows Nichols is a college student at Portland State University.

Landrum said he didn't hear anything for weeks, so he called back and got his answer: Nichols decided to appeal. So the city sought its payback.

http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2014/01/23/portland-tries-pressuring-occupy-protester-not-to-appeal-pepper-spray-case

[aikoaiko]

3. one's day in court is never cheap.

[struggle4progress]

4. It's not unusual for the loser to be hit with the lawsuit fees

Last edited Fri Jan 24, 2014, 12:25 AM - Edit history (1)

... she had sought $30,000 ... But the jury sided with Portland ... Deputy city attorney David Landrum said he offered to drop the city's pursuit of costs if Nichols agreed to waive an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ... Nichols decided to appeal. So the city sought its payback. On Oct. 18, federal judge Michael Mosman signed off on the $7,116 that Nichols now owes ... The breakdown is as follows:

$350 for fees to the clerk
$85 for fees for summons and subpoena
$5,195 for fees for transcripts used in the case
$82 for fees for witnesses
$838 for copying costs
$20 for docket fees
$546 for other costs ...

Pepper-sprayed Occupy Portland protester Liz Nichols gets $7,116 payment demand from city
By Aimee Green, The Oregonian
on January 23, 2014 at 11:47 AM
updated January 23, 2014 at 5:12 PM

[gopiscrap]

5. That's fucked up

I thought Portland was better than that!

[Sgent]

6. I thought that was standard

in civil lawsuits -- the loser pays the court costs.

[sabrina 1]

7. Did they prosecute the criminal who assaulted her? How about the criminals who nearly killed two

veterans? I haven't yet seen ANY charges filed against the brutal attackers of innocent, peaceful people. It's almost become comical in a tragic kind of way. Our Govt has the GALL to 'warn' other governments about THEIR police force's treatment of protesters, yet despite appeals from the UN to intervene on behalf of its own protesters many of whom were brutally beaten, wrongfully arrested, some nearly died had it not been for their fellow protesters getting them to the hospital, the US Government remained silent as they watched the brutality against their own citizens by their own police departments.

In a sane society, she would not have had to sue, the perp would have been arrested and thrown in jail and then ordered to pay her compensation.

[El_Johns]

8. Portland, so terribly progressive.

[Egalitarian Thug]

9. Portland's very liberal reputation is the result of the people that live there, not the

people that own and run it. I was regularly surprised at the laws and practices there.

This is also the case, but worse, in Seattle.