Ralph Moore of Brooklyn, N.Y., spent more than eight months in jail on charges that a Vermont judge eventually ruled stemmed from an unlawful search, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
The suit alleges unlawful search and seizure and a violation of equal protection rights by Officer Victor Bitca, former police chief Jennifer Morrison and the Town of Colchester.
Moore is represented by Robert Appel, former director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission. He seeks unspecified damages exceeding $75,000.
Moore was a passenger in a car Bitca pulled over on March 7, 2016, as the officer responded to a trespassing complaint at a Colchester Dunkin’ Donuts.
Neither Moore nor the driver matched the description of the alleged trespasser, but Bitca pulled them over for failing to signal and a broken brake light after they left the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot.
Bitca commented that their presence outside the coffee shop seemed “suspicious,” the complaint states, and called for backup. When another officer arrived, Bitca ordered Moore out of the car. He “panicked” and tried to run away, but was caught, the suit says.
Moore was arrested on drug and weapons charges, as well as providing false information to police and as a fugitive from justice for a warrant in New York.
Chittenden Superior Court Judge Nancy Waples dismissed three of the charges after ruling that Bitca did not have reasonable suspicion to expand the traffic stop.
Moore believes Bitca’s suspicion was due to Moore’s race.
“One of the reasons I decided to bring this case was to send a message that unlawful racial profiling by Vermont law enforcement will not go unchallenged,” Appel said.
Colchester Police Chief Doug Allen said the town is aware of the suit but declined to comment.
The lawsuit parallels an ongoing federal case filed in 2016 by the ACLU of Vermont on behalf of Shamel Alexander, a black Brooklyn man who was charged with heroin possession after Bennington police searched him while he was taking a cab to a Chinese restaurant. Alexander was sentenced to 10 years in jail before the Vermont Supreme Court overturned the conviction.
Both civil cases allege the respective towns violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for deliberate indifference to a “de facto policy, practice and/or custom” of racial discrimination.
In supporting that claim, both cases cite a widely publicized 2017 study coauthored by University of Vermont economics professor Stephanie Seguino that found widespread racial bias in police traffic stops across Vermont, including in Bennington and Colchester. U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford relied heavily on the findings in allowing the Alexander case to proceed last August.
But the traffic-stop study faces new criticism since the federally and state-funded, Montpelier-based Crime Research Group issued a report in January criticizing its methodology. The new report, authored by director of research Robin Joy, analyzed Bennington police stops in 2016 and found no evidence of racial bias.
The new report prompted the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police to call this week for the Vermont legislature to fund another statewide study on the issue.
“My sense is they don’t want to face facts,” Appel said of those questioning the UVM findings.
Seguino and coauthor Nancy Brooks of Cornell University defended their earlier study in a 13-page rebuttal that Seguino said she submitted to state lawmakers and the Vermont Attorney General’s office. They said the CRG report downplays evidence of racial bias within the analysis.
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*My sense is they dont want to face facts.*
Im sorry, but what you are saying with those words is that its a proven *fact* that all Vermont police departments are racist, because a UVM professor believes so. What you are saying is that the Vermont chiefs of police really have no business not agreeing with you that their department is racist. You are saying that its simply not reasonable for anyone to question Professor Seguino*s conclusion, even though a different study disagrees with hers.
The real story is what the scum bag was peddling…. potentially killing our children, We all know real kids in VT
who have died from this shi
How dare he comeback into are community and state he was wronged
If your reaction to this story is, “this is a bad man who deserves to be punished,” but your reaction to the Morris harrassment/gun charges guy is, “hey, this is an illegal investigation!” perhaps there is racism in Vermont after all. Who woulda thunk it?
I think Appel would be the right lawyer to represent Max Misch to make sure the man isnt profiling him and abusing his rights.
Crying racism over good police work? The guy bolted with a gun and drugs; they caught him as he attempted to flee. They were hanging out at a dunkins, outside and then they leave in their illegally equipped vehicle as police arrive. Cop thinks they might be up to something, seems off, pulls them over. Passenger when asked to get out, bolts? Guns and drugs on him. You see people, this is what police should be doing. Taking criminals with guns and drugs, off our streets. They didn’t profile them because he was black, they profiled them because they were scumbags.
When is Vermont going to stand up to this race issue and point out its NOT about race…its about crimes!. It seems everytime a person of color feels wronged while he or she is committing a crime they call “racist” and sue us. This “race” card is getting played way to much and we never ever had an issue…sure we have a few “Archie Bunkers” but we have never had anything else! The professor who wrote that paper needs to leave his cubby, we all know “professors” love to be published even if it’s a b.s. paper…n cause somewhere someone is gullible enough to agree! I support our men and women in BLUE!
“… a study coauthored by University of Vermont economics professor Stephanie Seguino found racial bias in police traffic stops across Vermont.”
If Seguino didn’t do the “study” precisely to publicize her OWN longstanding racial bias, then the results would be a surprise.
The guy had issues with his car and was pulled over, runs from the police but sue’s because he says the cops are racist. The guy is a damn outlaw! The cop was doing his job!!! What in the hell is going on in this country?!?!?!?!?!?
If you want to avoid the police dont go to Dunkin Donuts.
Ok the gormless had a gun on him and drugs and ran off.. So he is saying because of this the police officer is racist… WOW… So if the gormless was shooting someone and the police arrest him they are racist..?? Now you watch the state will cowardly listen to the dumb lawyer Appel, judge Nancy Waples and the so-called professor Stephanie Seguino and pay the gormless his money.. which will send a message to all criminals that crime pays. Wow can see the headlines now “Come to Vermont where crime pays, just scream RACIST”