Kane settles lawsuit over illegal search for $50,000
A former Oregon sheriff's deputy has reached a $50,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit against two Kane County sheriff's deputies, the sheriff and the county over an illegal roadside search in 2014.
In settling the suit brought by William Floyd Marsh Jr., who faces unrelated criminal charges in Oregon, authorities did not admit liability or wrongdoing. Marsh dropped all accusations against authorities, according to the settlement.
Governmental bodies often settle lawsuits for monetary amounts that reflect what would have been spent defending the case.
Information gained from the Feb. 13, 2014, traffic stop led police to raid storage lockers in Chicago and Milwaukee, discovering 5.7 pounds of cocaine, 6.3 pounds of methamphetamine, 2.4 pounds of heroin and 55 pounds of marijuana.
Marsh, 59, sued Kane County sheriff's Sgt. Ron Hain, officer Terrance Hoffman, Sheriff Don Kramer and the county. The lawsuit was settled in late 2016 and was recently dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, by Judge Ronald A. Guzman, according to court records.
Marsh argued that Hain and Hoffman violated his civil rights when Hain arrested Marsh after a traffic stop on I-90.
Marsh's statements and the drugs seized from the storage lockers were banned from trial after Judge John Barsanti ruled that Hain had improperly prolonged the traffic stop by asking Marsh questions after he was given a warning and supposedly free to leave.
The questions led to Marsh's admission that he was carrying a gun, which led to a search of his truck, cellphone, GPS and ultimately the two storage lockers.
Kane County prosecutors eventually dropped the charges against Marsh after he was held at the Kane County jail for more than two years. He was released last year but taken to Clackamas County, Oregon, where he faces burglary, theft and kidnapping charges from an October 2011 case.
Hain's attorney, John Timbo, deferred questions to the Kane County state's attorney's office, which provided a copy of the settlement agreement.
A message left for Blake Horwitz, Marsh's attorney, was not immediately returned.
Horwitz also represents three people who also have sued Hain, Kramer and others in federal court after Barsanti ruled that a Minnesota man detained after a traffic stop on I-90 in April 2015 was illegally strip-searched at the jail.
Drug charges against Ismael Jaimes-Meza were dismissed after the court ruling.
Jaimes-Meza's federal lawsuit remains active, and both sides are due in court Feb. 22.