CLEVELAND, Ohio — A federal judge said he is considering dismissing a lawsuit filed by a motorist against a Euclid police officer who repeatedly punched him during a traffic stop, because the motorist’s attorney missed a filing deadline and court proceeding.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster wrote Friday that attorney Christopher McNeal, who represents Richard Hubbard III in a lawsuit against officer Michael Amiott and the city of Euclid, did not talk with defense counsel about a case management plan, as the judge previously ordered.
McNeal and Hubbard, of Cleveland, also failed to appear at a status conference set for Thursday morning, the judge wrote in the order.
McNeal said in a phone interview Friday that he missed the deadlines and the hearing because an employee who no longer works with him put the wrong dates on his calendar.
Polster set an evidentiary hearing for Dec. 19 regarding McNeal’s conduct and will decide afterward whether he will dismiss the case. Should he allow the lawsuit to proceed, the judge indicated he would order McNeal to pay all costs for the parties and lawyers who attended Thursday’s conference.
A video of Amiott punching Hubbard in August 2017 was widely shared online. The video led to protests and criticism of the inner-ring, east side suburb, where other instances of police use of force were highlighted.
McNeal also represents Yolimar Tirado, Hubbard’s girlfriend, who was also in the car that day. The civil-rights lawsuit, filed in September, seeks at least $3.8 million, the amount a jury awarded Rodney King for his beating at the hands of Los Angeles police officers in 1991.
Amiott, the city and two other officers named in the lawsuit denied any wrongdoing.
Polster issued a scheduling order on Oct. 25, which set the status conference for Thursday and required attorneys on both sides to meet beforehand about how litigation will proceed.
Attorneys for Euclid and the officers filed a report on Tuesday, which showed McNeal did not attend the planning meeting. They told the judge that McNeal never responded to emails or phone calls, Polster wrote.
The judge ordered a new planning report be filed by Wednesday, but McNeal again did not respond. He then told McNeal and his clients to appear at Thursday’s conference, along with “a written explanation as to why he had failed to respond or otherwise participate in this litigation,” according to the order.
Polster, the defendants and their lawyers waited for 45 minutes on Thursday, and the judge subsequently told them he would dismiss the case “with prejudice,” meaning it could not be refiled, according to the order.
At 2 p.m. Thursday, McNeal called the judge’s chambers and spoke with a member of his staff, claiming he had not received the emails. He and a paralegal arrived at Polster’s chambers at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, where Polster told him he would hold an evidentiary hearing, according to the order.
The judge wrote that McNeal must also contact opposing counsel to finish the planning report and that all parties must be ready to participate in a status conference on Dec. 19, should Polster decide not to toss the case.
Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail fired Amiott in October 2017. An arbitrator reinstated the officer a year later, ruling that the mayor did not have cause to dismiss him. A criminal investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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