Law Officer Found Liable In Arrest

Artist's Civil Rights Violated, Jury Says

By: Brooke A. Masters
Washington Post Staff Writer

A federal court jury yesterday found that a white Leesburg police
officer violated the civil rights of an African American Loudoun
County man during a 1994 drug arrest and awarded $25,000 in damages.

The sevenmember jury decided that Rick Frye, now a Loudoun sheriff's
deputy, assaulted Gary Murray outside a Leesburg public housing
complex. But the jurors found Murray had not proved his other claim,
that Frye had falsely arrested him and planted illegal drugs in his
Ford truck.

Frye, 33, must pay the $5,000 in compensatory damages and $20,000 in
punitive damages plus attorney's fees himself. A federal judge ruled
before the trial that the police department was not liable for his
actions.

During the four days of testimony in Alexandria, Murray, an artist,
told the jury that he was working on a mural at Loudoun House, a local
public housing complex, when Frye approached him from behind and said
he'd heard Murray was dealing drugs.

Murray's attorney, Victor Glasberg, argued that Frye assumed Murray
was a drug dealer because the artist is black, wears dreadlocks and
was visiting a public housing complex where drug trafficking often
occurs.

Murray testified that Frye, who was in street clothes, grabbed him
from behind and roughly spun him around without ever identifying
himself as a police officer. "This guy came and tried to rough me up.
. . . I never saw a gun. I never saw a badge," Murray said. "He spun
me, and I hit him. [Then] somebody said, `I think he's the police.' "

But Frye testified that he never touched Murray. He said that he was
holding a badge in his hand and clearly identified himself, and that
Murray decked him without provocation. "I categorically deny the
unconstitutional touching. I was beaten almost unconscious that
night," Frye said yesterday.

Frye radioed for backup and searched Murray's truck for drugs,
according to court testimony. He testified that he found six baggies
of marijuana under the truck and one inside. Murray and several
plaintiff's witnesses testified that the drugs had been planted, but
Frye denied it. Murray was charged with assault and drug possession,
but the drug charges were dropped and he eventually was acquitted of
misdemeanor assault.

"I'm happy about the fact that I prevailed in all of the credibility
issues" in which evidence planting was alleged, Frye said. The trial
"was the worst week of my life."

Glasberg said the jury's verdict made Murray, who previously served
nine years in prison for armed robbery, feel vindicated. "Here's a guy
who has been hauled in before all manner of courts and the decks had
always seemed stacked against him. And he said, `I'm getting myself a
fair trial,' " Glasberg said.

Civil rights suits against the police have become more common in
recent years, but most are thrown out or settled, said Elliot Spector,
a West Hartford, Conn., lawyer and police instructor who specializes
in civil rights issues. He estimated that plaintiffs win fewer than 2
percent of cases at trial.

Spector, a past officer of the International Association of Chiefs of
Police, said Murray's case is typical of a fastgrowing category:
cases in which the plaintiff alleges unlawful use of force but does
not claim major injuries. "In these touchyfeely cases, there isn't
any lasting physical damage, but the courts have found that no force
was necessary," he said.

Frye is considering an appeal, in part because his defense was
hampered by a ruling by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, said
his attorney, David Ralston. Brinkema, who presided over the case,
found that Frye could not argue that, as a police officer, he had a
right to grab Murray and had "qualified immunity" from the laws
prohibiting assault.

The court decision will not affect Frye's job as a Loudoun patrol
officer, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Pifer.

(c)Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company