She stopped to help at a car crash and ended up cuffed. Now her lawsuit will head to trial
PROVIDENCE – A Newport woman's allegations that South Kingstown police officers violated her rights by assaulting and arresting her after she stopped to help two young men involved in a car crash in February 2023 can head to trial.
U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy ruled June 9 that the civil rights lawsuit brought by Claire and James Hall can proceed to trial.
'Taking the record in the light most favorable to Mrs. Hall, a reasonable jury could conclude that she was ordered to move and subsequently arrested and leg-swept without a legal basis while trying to fulfill a duty that she thought was required under Rhode Island's Good Samaritan laws,' McElroy said in the 32-page ruling.
Chief Matthew Moynihan and Officers Matthew White and Anthony Souza are named as defendants. Moynihan declined to comment because the matter is in litigation.
The Halls' lawyer, Todd D. White, said "my clients are pleased to be going forward with their case."
According to the ruling, the case began with a car crash on Feb. 9, 2023 on Route 1 in South Kingstown, when Claire Hall pulled over to check on the two young men involved. One of the young men, Van Limoges, was 'frantically walking' around and 'shaking,' with 'blood on his leg,' the ruling said.
Hall lent Limoges her phone so that he could call his father, Jim, who asked Limoges if there was an adult on the scene, and Limoges handed the phone back to Hall. The father wanted to know where to meet his son: at the scene of the accident or at the hospital.
Souza and White arrived as Hall continued to speak with the man's father. The officers directed her to move her car off the highway. Hall said she was about to leave and tried to hand the phone to White.
White responded by stating: 'I'm working. Can you please go sit in your car? You have nothing to do with this,' according to the ruling.
Hall said that Limoges was a minor, that she was a lawyer, and that White 'needed to tell her' where Van's father should meet them. White retorted, 'I don't need to tell you anything. I'm going to arrest you in a second if you don't get in your car. Do you understand me?'
'Oh, you're kidding me,' Hall said.
White pointed to Hall's car and raised his voice, saying, 'You are impeding an investigation right now and you are really bothering me. Go sit in your car.'
Hall raised her voice to match his and asked, 'What should I tell his father? What should I tell his father?' White responded, 'I will talk to him in a minute,' and then screamed, 'GET IN YOUR CAR, NOW!' Hall tried again to hand the phone to him.
The officers grabbed Hall by the arms as she flailed and told them to stop. As she screamed, the officers leg-swept her, pushed her into the ground, and put her in handcuffs. She asked the young men to record the interactions.
'Why am I under arrest?' she asked. 'Because you weren't listening to anything we were saying,' White said. Hall continued to yell, and Souza told her to 'take a breather.' She told him to take one.
White told dispatch that they had a woman in custody for disorderly and resisting.
Hall said, 'No! I cannot even believe this. This is so ridiculous. I just wanted to know I could tell his father I was going to the hospital. I'm not even involved in this. I can't believe this.' White responded, 'This was our point the whole time.'
Hall shouted, 'I'm a good Samaritan who stopped to help a kid and this is what happens.' The officers picked her up as she yelled, and walked her to the police SUV over her protests.
Hall was charged with obstruction, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest – charges that were dismissed via not guilty filings five months later at the state's recommendation.
The Halls sued the Police Department and the officers in 2023 in U.S. District Court alleging assault, battery and police brutality. In addition, the Halls sued Moynihan for damages based on his alleged failure to properly supervise White and Souza.
The South Kingstown police asked the court to rule in their favor short of trial, arguing that probable cause existed to arrest Hall and that they used only reasonable force during the arrest. They also asserted that qualified immunity insulates them from the lawsuit.
The court rejected those arguments, ruling that the matters were best left to a jury to decide.
'Without probable cause, qualified immunity is inappropriate under these circumstances. But because the Court has held that the remaining questions of probable cause should be left to the jury, it will reserve the question of qualified immunity for after trial, too,' McElroy said.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lawsuit alleging brutality by South Kingstown police can head to trial
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