Atkinson v. Town of Rockport - Federal 1983 Civil Rights Suit

[terraformer]

I wonder what it actually was.

If you told me a paper towel cardboard insert I wouldn't be surprised...

 

[Palladin]

beautiful

 

[appraiser]

off topic, but does anyone know what became of the charges from his arrest?

 

[glostamon]

off topic, but does anyone know what became of the charges from his arrest?

the initial arrest seems like a civil matter?

 

[appraiser]

Never mind....... he was indicted recently on the weapons charges.

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

This is probably good in a sense. Whatever one might think about Mr. Atkinson, I'm certainly of the opinion that we was royally screwed. He's been in a kind of legal limbo ever since his initial arrest and the government's long delay in bringing charges is unforgivable. I believe that the delay in charging him was a primary motivation in his filing of the federal lawsuit.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

This is probably good in a sense. Whatever one might think about Mr. Atkinson, I'm certainly of the opinion that we was royally screwed. He's been in a kind of legal limbo ever since his initial arrest and the government's long delay in bringing charges is unforgivable. I believe that the delay in charging him was a primary motivation in his filing of the federal lawsuit.

Or vice-versa. Filing a suits, or threatening to file, especially pro-se, is one of the surest ways to assure that any criminal charge will be pursued to the fullest. One should prepare the suit, and wait until the day before the deadline expires to file, to minimize setting one self up as a target.

Remember the Don Schwartz case? Totally trivial charges, and the prosecution did the all but unheard of maneuver of opposing the routine disposition of the charges with court costs and a very minor disposition. I suspect that all the posturing about how he was going to sue the PD (which really, really doesn't care - as they have infinite resources to defend the case) is what he spent tens of thousands, rather than just thousands, on a minor case. I heard the arresting officer discussing the case in a casual conversation (mostly cops, but a few non-LEOs were present) and he even mentioned "getting some decent overtime" out of the case.

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

I tried to avoid doing to the chicken-and-egg thing with this case. Filing charges against someone after they've filed a civil rights suit is serious business. Doing things the other way around is more conventional. But since they decided to string Mr. Atkinson along, it don't see how it could have played out differently.

 

[strangenh]

Another update...

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x234161795/Global-theft-charges-dismissed-vs-Rockport-man

The fraud charges that triggered the initial arrest in the first place have been dismissed, along with the drug charges and illegal possession regarding the "rocket launcher". For the charges that started the whole thing, the witnesses didn't show. That article's very informative.

 

[appraiser]

looks like he is winning so far, let's see if he wins the next round too.

 

[Coyote33]

Can he recover his costs and any "hardships" he has had to endure as a result of all this?

 

[jar]

looks like he is winning so far, let's see if he wins the next round too.

Note that the article mentioned that his ridiculous pro se case is now at the first circuit. It looks like all of the motions to dismiss were granted on March 14th, ending the case at the district level.

 

[terraformer]

Note that the article mentioned that his ridiculous pro se case is now at the first circuit. It looks like all of the motions to dismiss were granted on March 14th, ending the case at the district level.

And he is appealing the MTD but I didn't look at how many he is appealing, or if he is appealing all of them. Who knows, I just wish they would nolle prosse him and let him escape this hell hole and create a new life for himself elsewhere. That federal court challenge was absurd in it's scope and until he filed it, he had a decent malicious prosecution case on his hands because the call to the BBB in his town was solely a pretext for the prosecution. Now, who knows.

 

[Cmaro21]

Someone I know was talking about this guy and some work they did with them in the past. Some searching lead back to here interestingly enough.

Any update on this? Did any of his appeals go through?
All I found was this from 11.27.2012
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca1/12-2405


Thanks,
Cmaro

 

[terraformer]

Someone I know was talking about this guy and some work they did with them in the past. Some searching lead back to here interestingly enough.

Any update on this? Did any of his appeals go through?
All I found was this from 11.27.2012
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca1/12-2405


Thanks,
Cmaro

They dismissed the complaint based on procedural grounds. CA1 affirmed the dismissal. The docket was 200+ entries large and basically it was dismissed against everyone because the dude tried to screw everyone all at once. Gura even cited this case in a cert amicus to SCOTUS saying their inaction is causing cases like this to pop up.

 

[Bonesinium]

They dismissed the complaint based on procedural grounds. CA1 affirmed the dismissal. The docket was 200+ entries large and basically it was dismissed against everyone because the dude tried to screw everyone all at once. Gura even cited this case in a cert amicus to SCOTUS saying their inaction is causing cases like this to pop up.

I see what you are getting at, but I wouldn't characterize it as him trying to screw people. He is the one that got screwed (big time!), he was trying to hold them all accountable at once. That would be a better characterization. The amount of misconduct, perjury, and rights violations against him was so sweeping it is hard to comprehend.

 

[terraformer]

I see what you are getting at, but I wouldn't characterize it as him trying to screw people. He is the one that got screwed (big time!), he was trying to hold them all accountable at once. That would be a better characterization. The amount of misconduct, perjury, and rights violations against him was so sweeping it is hard to comprehend.

True, but had he focused on the few people who actually were involved, he had a decent retaliation claim. Most of the PC against him evaporated and once it did, he had a ripe retaliation claim against them. Instead he chose to sue people who had never heard of him and try to kill off all of MA gun law in one fell swoop. There is a good reason Comm2A is so disciplined about what cases we take. I am not trying to maintain a 100% win to loss ratio, but I want to win most of the time because I know winning in one case causes the next case to be much easier to win. Whether you use the domino analogy or the foundation analogy, winning begets winning in courts on single subject litigation.

 

[Bonesinium]

I totally understand your position.

 

[Cmaro21]

Thank you for the update and both for the input.

/thread