>Back to Main Page

 Wednesday, December 3, 2003

Goodwin sues Oakland police after traffic stop

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER NEWS SERVICES

Agent Aaron Goodwin, whose clients include former Sonics star Gary Payton and Cavaliers rookie LeBron James, has filed a $1 million civil rights lawsuit against the Oakland (Calif.) Police Department, the San Jose Mercury News reported yesterday.

Goodwin was stopped Nov. 25 by Oakland police, who were trying to nab two burglary suspects in the Lincoln Avenue area.

Goodwin alleged his only crime was "driving while black."

Police denied the allegation and said Goodwin's car matched the suspect's car and his windows were tinted, making it impossible to see who was inside.

Goodwin was traveling Monday and could not be reached for comment.

His attorney, John Burris, said his client filed the lawsuit not for the money, but to let other African Americans know that in similar circumstances they should comply with the police officers' orders, then later seek justice through the legal system.

Burris described Goodwin's version of what happened:

Goodwin was driving his black 2004 Cadillac Escalade down from the Oakland hills about 9 a.m. when he noticed a patrol car trailing him.

He was pulled over by four police cars and ordered at gunpoint to get out and get on the ground.

He complied but told officers they had the wrong man.

At one point, Burris said, Goodwin was ordered by a white female officer "to crawl" to her.

"Aaron Goodwin felt truly humiliated that this officer was playing a power trip on him," Burris said, adding his client also was upset when an officer at the scene whom he knows refused to vouch for him.

Goodwin was handcuffed and placed in a police car. He was soon released after a witness who was brought to the scene failed to identify him as the suspect.

Oakland police spokeswoman Danielle Ashford said Goodwin's windows were tinted, so officers had no way of knowing if anyone else was in the car; suspects are sometimes ordered to crawl backward, toward the sound of an officer's voice, for safety reasons; and even if one officer did recognize Goodwin, he had no way of knowing if he had committed a crime, and was not responsible for vouching for Goodwin.

"It would have been a huge disservice to the victim of that residential burglary to not stop that car," she said.

source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/150843_goodwin03.html