$750,000 AWARDED IN FALSE ARREST CASE

Hollywood cops, city held liable

A federal jury in Broward on Wednesday awarded $750,000 to a Hollywood man
after a judge ruled his civil rights were violated by two police officers in
a 1996 drug arrest.

The 10-member jury announced the award to Dwight Edman, 21, after a rare
decision by U.S. District Judge Wilkie Ferguson Jr. to hold Sgt. Jeff Marano
and former Officer Tony Fernandez responsible for violating Edman's rights
before the jury could even deliberate the matter. The judge based his
verdict Tuesday on Marano's admission that police had no probable cause to
arrest Edman.

"We are obviously extremely grateful that the jury understood and
appreciated the significance of what Dwight Edman endured, and appreciated
the gravity of the violations," said Edman's attorney, Hugh Koerner.

For his part, Marano was ordered to pay Edman $200,000 in damages; Fernandez
$75,000. The city of Hollywood was ordered to pay $275,000 for damages
stemming from false arrest, and another $200,000 for violating state notary
laws regarding flawed arrest records. The jury dismissed a battery charge
against the city.

Edman likely will have difficulty collecting the entire award. In most
instances, a city indemnifies its officers for any court judgments. The
Hollywood Commission must decide whether to pay the officers' portion.

City Manager Sam Finz declined to comment until he read the verdict.

State law may prevent Hollywood from paying its full portion. Florida caps
monetary court judgments against municipalities at $100,000 and only the
state Legislature can authorize more.

Attorney Bruce Jolly, who represented Marano and Fernandez, couldn't be
reached for comment late Wednesday. Nor could Hollywood Assistant City
Attorney Dan Abbott, who defended the city, or acting Police Chief Al
Lamberti.

Edman, then 18, and his friend Jerome Watson, then 19, were arrested Jan.
31, 1996, as they left the Ventura Motel, 720 N. Federal Hwy., to buy a
pizza. The area is a hotbed of drug trafficking and prostitution. Police
charged them with delivering a fake cocaine rock to Marano, who was working
undercover.

Koerner said Edman, who had long disputed police descriptions of a drug
deal, was strip-searched. Edman claimed in the lawsuit that Fernandez
squeezed pressure points behind his ears in interrogating him. A
psychologist testified during the five-day trial that Edman suffers
post-traumatic stress disorder from the ordeal, a contention Jolly
relentlessly attacked.

Edman's parents, including his father, Barrington Edman, an 18-year
Miami-Dade Corrections sergeant, testified that their son had become
depressed and easily angered. Still living in Hollywood, Edman said he
feared retaliation from police after filing the suit last year.

"I have been worried not knowing if I'd have a run-in with these guys,"
Edman said. "I always felt like now that they have my name, that they might
have a little grudge; if they pulled me over, something might have happened.

"I'm happy with the jury's decision but more grateful that it has brought
closure to all of this, and I can move on."

Prosecutors dropped charges against Edman in June 1996 when Marano admitted
the arrest was a mistake and that a probable-cause affidavit by Fernandez
was incorrect. The affidavit, in which officers are supposed to swear the
information included is true, was one of several blank forms signed in bulk
by police before the arrests were made. Marano admitted the affidavit was
presigned with his name in violation of state laws requiring a notary to
witness such signatures.

Watson spent nearly two months in jail because he couldn't raise the $1,000
bail, said Raag Singhal, Watson's lawyer at the time. He eventually pleaded
no contest and was sentenced to probation.

Marano and his subordinates arrested Edman and Watson as members of the
controversial street crimes unit known as the Raiders. Then-Police Chief
Rick Stone disbanded the Raiders in February 1997 and dispersed its members
between the patrol division and an expanded community-oriented policing
team.

In April of that year, Stone publicly exonerated the unit and announced he
was closing a yearlong internal probe into a dozen allegations ranging from
brutality to false arrests to sexual battery, which also were being
investigated by Broward prosecutors.

Stone said allegations against officers were sustained in only one case --
the Edman arrest. He placed formal reprimands in both Marano's and
Fernandez's personnel files and ordered them to take a test on department
procedure.

Citing another lawsuit filed days after Edman's, Stone earlier this year
yanked Marano from the street and placed him on desk duty. Fernandez was
fired in May for repeatedly violating department rules shortly after wearing
a sexually explicit T-shirt to a sensitivity and diversity training session.

Checked-by: Don Beck