The Nation's Best Law Schools

The official U.S. News 2011 Law School rankings were released today following a leaked list last Tuesday. Yale remains the best law school in the nation.  Follow the link for the official list.

High Level of "Pissivity" Leads to Arrest

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals today issued an order affirming a lower court decision in which Steven Tulin, a Walter Reed Hospital psychologist, was awarded $450,000 in damages for, amongst other things, false arrest.  According to the appellate court, which issued a 26 page opinion, what began as a minor motor vehicle collision quickly escalated into a situation where a Tulin was improperly arrested.

The case originates from an Oct. 22, 2004 incident in which Metropolitan Police Department Detective Barbara Rauf was involved in a rear-end collision with the vehicle operated by Tulin while driving her son to school.  According to opinion, the collision occurred after “some less than friendly looks and gestures by both drivers.” 

After the collision, the drivers had a “hostile interaction” in which both drivers were “extremely angry.” Rauf admitted in trial testimony that she was cursing and using profanity because her “level of pissitivity” was fairly high.  Rauf made two telephone calls to the police operator, requesting assistance for an officer in trouble.  When Officer Leticia McKoy, Sergeant Johnnie Lee McLean and Sergeant Jackson arrived at the location Rauf reported that Tulin had been aggressively stopping and starting his car and that it was his driving that caused the accident.

After interviewing Rauf, McKoy permitted her to leave.  As Rauf departed, she said to McKoy, “That’s an automatic lock-up, isn’t it?” Tulin was then handcuffed and arrested.  By way of a footnote, the appellate court states that Rauf’s husband was a captain in the same police command district where McKoy was assigned.

Tulin was held for 14 hours and charged with reckless driving.  Tulin was later found not guilty and thereafter prosecuted a civil suit against Rauf and McKoy for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.  He also sued the District for negligent supervision.  At trial a jury dismissed the causes of action against McKoy.  However, the jury found Rauf was liable for intentional infliction of emotional distress and that the District liable for negligently supervising McKoy. The jury awarded Tulin $450,000.

On appeal, the assistant attorney general for the District of Columbia, argued that the jury issued an inconsistent verdict by ruling in McKoy’s favor on all of the allegations leveled against her yet still holding the District liable for negligent supervision.

To the contrary, the appellate court held that the arrest was improper for a number of reasons, including the fact that reckless driving is not an arrestable offense if it isn’t witnessed by an officer, and because neither McLean nor Jackson asked Rauf how fast she was going or how far her car was from Tulin’s car prior to the accident.  During cross examination of McLean, Tulin’s attorney was able to show that Sergeant McLean and Sergeant Jackson authorized Mr. Tulin’s warrantless arrest, which could be lawful only because Detective Rauf, the driver who had run into the car in front of her, was a police officer and was present when the accident occurred.

The attorney for the District also argued that Rauf shouldn’t be held liable for intentional infliction of emotional distress because she did not arrest Tulin and therefore didn’t inflict the emotional distress.  That argument was rejected by the appellate court which found that Rauf’s behavior, including the use of “foul and profane” language in front of her 9-year-old son, could be determined by a reasonable jury to have been intended to cause emotional distress.

Accordingly, the appeals court affirmed the Superior Court opinion in full.