NEWPORT BEACH : City to Appeal Jury Civil Rights Verdict

The City Council has decided to appeal a jury verdict last week that found the city responsible for violating the civil rights of an advertising executive who was allegedly falsely arrested and beaten by police officers in 1986.

The attorney handling the case for the city, Tom Feeley, will ask before Monday for a new trial or appeal of the verdict that awarded $285,000 to Everett Temme.

The council Monday night also committed to paying Temme the damages, should they be sustained, City Atty. Robert Burnham said.

In June, 1986, Temme, a Nevada resident who lived part time on a yacht in Newport Beach’s Marina Dunes area, was driving to his boat, when he encountered officers Richard Thomson and Scott McKnight at Bayside Drive and East Coast Highway. An argument at the intersection escalated, and Thomson hurled his flashlight through Temme’s back window.

After Temme called police from his yacht, Thomson and another officer, Sgt. Michael McEveny, attempted to arrest Temme for drunk driving and allegedly trying to run down Thomson with his car. Temme was jailed for 12 hours before posting $25,000 bail. The matter was then dropped.

The 12-member jury awarded Temme $30,000 in compensatory damages and $255,000 in punitive damages, which are to paid by the arresting officers, former chiefs Arb Campbell and Charles Gross, and the council members, who the jury concluded knowingly tolerated the use of excessive force by members of the city’s Police Department.