Taped beating dismissal sought

Published 12:00 am Saturday, August 1, 2009

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The city of New Orleans is asking a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit that accuses police officers of using excessive force on a man whose arrest in the city’s French Quarter after Hurricane Katrina was captured on videotape.

A trial for the lawsuit filed on behalf of retired school teacher Robert Davis is scheduled to start Aug. 10 unless U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman dismisses the suit.

Feldman didn’t immediately rule Friday after hearing arguments from lawyers on both sides of the case.

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The city’s attorneys argue that police officers who arrested Davis on Bourbon Street on the night of Oct. 8, 2005, are entitled to immunity from the suit. Davis’ lawyers say a jury should be allowed to decide the case.