Rock County has agreed to a settlement of all claims asserted in a federal lawsuit against Rock County and its deputies related to the Nov. 27, 2018, stop and search of Kelli Jo Torres.
Named in the suit are deputies Dallas Hamm and Shelley Douty, Sheriff Evan Verbrugge and Rock County for “violating the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as state law.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Torres along with her attorney will receive payment of $140,000. The settlement funds will be paid through the county’s coverage with the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust (MCIT).
The County has also agreed to make minor changes to its policies, including conducting additional training on searches and auditing traffic stops and arrests made by its deputies for the next two years.
In her lawsuit, Torres alleged she was subjected to an “invasive” roadside search when she as a passenger was asked to exit the vehicle so it could be inventoried following the arrest of the driver.
The driver was initially pulled over for a dangling air freshener.
According to Rock County officials, Torres complied, and a female deputy proceeded to pat her down for officer safety before intending to secure her in a squad while the vehicle was inventoried.
The ACLU in a press release described the stop differently. “For more than 30 minutes the deputies yelled at Torres and tried to perform a vaginal search on the I-90 on-ramp – even though Torres was the passenger,” the Sept. 1 press release stated.
The information quotes Torres as saying, “I felt very violated by the whole situation. I repeatedly asked them to do the right thing. I hope this settlement sends a message to law enforcement everywhere that public strip searches are not OK, and they can’t treat anyone like this.”
ACLU-MN attorney Clare Diegel weighed in. “Rock County deputies used a dangling air freshener as an excuse to stop the vehicle, and had no reason to search passenger Kelli Jo Torres, let alone shamefully conduct a body cavity search on the side of a road,” Diegel said.
“We expect that the training, discipline and policy reforms that our client so bravely fought for will prevent this terrible situation from ever happening again.”
The county report states Torres resisted the pat-down when an object, later determined to be a methamphetamine pipe, was felt through her pants protruding from between her legs.
At her request, Torres was transported to a hospital where she removed the meth pipe from her body in an examination room in the presence of a nurse. County officials state that no roadside body cavity or strip search occurred.
The Rock County Administrator’s Office released a statement following the ACLU’s announcement.
“While the county believes it is likely they would have prevailed at trial, this settlement allows the parties to avoid the protracted litigation involved with adjudicating federal civil rights claims, which may have taken years to resolve, and avoids the uncertainties of trial, including a potentially costly verdict with substantial attorney’s fees to Ms. Torres’ attorneys,” the statement read.
“The settlement does not assume fault by any of the named parties.”