Stephens v. City of St. Helens

The plaintiff appeals from a judgment n.o.v. in favor of the defendants after a verdict for the plaintiff ' in an action for personal injuries.

The plaintiff was arrested by the defendant Hansen in the course of Hansen’s duties as chief of police of the defendant city. In his handling of the plaintiff, the officer used force which the jury could have found was excessive. There was also undenied evidence that the plaintiff himself had been somewhat intransigent in fading to get out of a chair in the police station when told by the officer to do so. In the coercive exercises which ensued, the…