JUDGE ALLOWS 4TH AMENDMENT CLAIM TO MOVE FORWARD

City of Oconomowoc - A Milwaukee judge has given a man held for 10
months on drug possession charges the go ahead to pursue excessive
force and unreasonable search claims against members of the Oconomowoc
Police Depart-ment.

Joshua M. Scaffidi, 39, formerly of Oconomowoc, was released from
Waukesha County Jail on Dec. 14 after spending more than 10 months in
custody on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of drug
paraphernalia, maintaining a drug trafficking place, and resisting
or obstructing an officer. Those charges were dismissed on Dec. 14.

According to Assistant District Attorney Lloyd Carter, the charges
were dismissed because prosecutors did not feel they could meet the
burden of proof.

Prosecutors were not able to secure subpoenas of three citizen
witnesses that they felt were vital in making their case, Carter said.

It was also taken into consideration, Carter said, that Scaffidi had
already spent 10 months in jail while the charges made their way
through court.

While in custody, Scaffidi filed a complaint against members of the
City of Oconomowoc Police Depart-ment.

Scaffidi alleges that officers had no reason to be in his apartment
and that he was the target of a conspiracy to catch him breaking the
law.

In late November, Judge Carles N. Clevert Jr. of the Federal Eastern
District Court of Wisconsin agreed to have the court pay for the suit
against the Oconomowoc officers and gave Scaffidi the go-ahead to
pursue excessive force claims against police officers Brad Timm and
Andrew Rich, and on unreasonable search claims against Brad Timm,
Andrew Rich, Dave Groves, and three other officers sued as "Resch,"
"G. Cavaiani" and "Grabowski."

Clevert dismissed seven other defendants named in Scaffidi's
claim.

On Dec. 15, Judge Patricia J. Gorence ordered U.S. marshals to serve
the complaint.

A police spokesperson could not comment on Scaffidi's claims, as they
had not yet received the complaint or the summons.

City Administrator Diane Gard said she was aware of the claim and that
the city would be reviewing it and passing it on to the proper channels.

The Oconomowoc Focus requested the police records from the Jan. 2004
incident and was referred to the Waukesha County District Attorney's
Office.

According to a search warrant filed Feb. 2 in Waukesha County Court,
the night Scaffidi was arrested, police took 0.2 grams of cocaine,
cocaine residue, 4.6 grams of marijuana, crack cocaine pipes, copper
mesh, lighters and razor blades from his Oconomowoc apartment.

Officers knocked on the door and the man answered, but quickly
attempted to shut the door and retreated into the apartment, the
warrant said.

Police entered the apartment and saw other people inside running
around and they heard the sounds of water running and toilets
flushing, the warrant said.

Scaffidi alleges that he was falsely arrested not on the drug charges,
but for an outstanding warrant issued over his failure to pay a
municipal citation for consuming alcohol in public, a charge for which
he was found guilty in October 2003.

Although Scaffidi insists he had time left in which to pay the
citation, officials at the Lake Country Municipal Court say that
Scaffidi's fines were past due and that a warrant had been issued for
his arrest on Jan. 22, 2004.