May 20, 2001 Sunday
Final Edition
Judge Throws Out Fairfax False-Arrest Lawsuit
BYLINE: Tom Jackman, Washington Post Staff Writer
SECTION: METRO; Pg. C03
LENGTH: 473 words
A federal judge in Alexandria has thrown out a lawsuit filed
by a Reston man who was wrongly arrested by Fairfax County police on charges of
indecent exposure, saying a detective's actions were "objectively
reasonable."
After a man showed a photograph of himself naked to a
lifeguard at a Reston health club in July 1999, Fairfax Detective Ricky Savage
searched the home of James M. Brocco, 55, then arrested him. Fairfax police
then issued a news release and photo of Brocco, and some newspapers printed
stories about the arrest.
Brocco, however, hadn't been at the health club on the day
of the incident. After the arrest, police said, Savage showed photos of Brocco
and another club member, James A. Brokke, to the lifeguard, and he immediately
picked Brokke. Court records show that the lifeguard gave Brokke's name and
description to police from the start. Prosecutors dismissed the case against
Brocco; Brokke later pleaded guilty.
Fairfax Police Chief J. Thomas Manger apologized to Brocco,
who nonetheless filed a civil rights suit last October against Savage, the
county and Savage's police supervisor. Brocco's attorneys later dropped the
county and the supervisor from the suit. Savage's attorney sought the detective's
dismissal, saying he was entitled to qualified immunity as a police officer.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Albert V. Bryan Jr. granted
the request. Bryan noted that government officials generally are shielded from
liability unless their conduct violates "clearly established statutory or
constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known."
Bryan noted that the names Brocco and Brokke are similar and that the health
club had incorrectly provided Brocco's information to police.
"That the physical descriptions of the perpetrator and
Mr. Brocco may have varied is not enough to make the actions of defendant
Savage objectively unreasonable," Bryan wrote.
David Fudalah, Savage's attorney, said the detective was
relieved by the ruling. Fudalah noted that security reports from the Fitness
Club at the Hyatt Regency unambiguously named Brocco, not Brokke, as the
suspect. He also noted Brocco refused to meet with Savage before his arrest.
Brocco's attorneys said Savage wouldn't tell them why he wanted to meet with
Brocco.
"Had he spoken with police, this may well have never
occurred," Fudalah said.
Manger said: "Detective Savage based his actions on
what he believed was credible information. The problem was the information he
was given by several sources was wrong. Once we found out that information was
wrong, we worked as quickly as we could to remedy that situation."
Brocco, who paid $ 38,000 in legal fees in his criminal
case, declined to comment. His attorney, Victor M. Glasberg, said he and Brocco
would meet next week to decide whether to appeal Bryan's ruling.