USA: Attorney Richard Berman gets $250K from Fresno County for being roughed up

July 12, 2016

Fresno County pays attorney Richard Berman $250,000 to end his civil-rights lawsuit

Berman contends a courthouse deputy used excessive force

He says courthouse security video supports his case

High-profile attorney Richard Berman has settled his federal civil-rights lawsuit against the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office for $250,000 in a case that he says solidifies a person’s right to question authority.

“They push people around all the time,” Berman said Tuesday. “Finally, someone stood up to them.”

In his lawsuit, Berman contended that a female sheriff’s deputy roughed him up in the lobby of the downtown Fresno criminal courthouse in March 2012, arrested him and publicly humiliated him in a dispute over a child’s plastic toy.

Berman, 69, and his lawyer, Jacob “Jack” Weisberg, said a courthouse security video proved Berman did nothing wrong.

“All he did was question authority,” Weisberg said. “The law gives people the right to talk back to police without fear of being arrested.”

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http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/crime/article89194877.html

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