San Francisco Police Commission
to discuss police abuse lawsuit

By Brent Begin, Bay City News Service

January 23, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - The San Francisco Police Commission is scheduled to discuss the settlement of a lawsuit surrounding the alleged 2004 beating of a Sacramento man by San Francisco police.

The terms of the settlement have not been released, but the amount of money the city is expected to pay should be made public if the police commission passes the lawsuit on to the Board of Supervisors Wednesday night.

The lawsuit stems from a March 7, 2004 incident in which Andrew Marconi and some friends were outside the Endup, a popular late night dance club on the intersection of Sixth and Harrison streets.

According to charging documents, Marconi and his friend, Eric Gora, were urinating in an alleyway behind the club when a San Francisco police patrol car pulled up. Three officers got out of the car and approached the two men.

Marconi, who is gay, claims in the lawsuit that the officers began yelling homosexual slurs such as "fag," "faggot," "faggot ass" and "queer."

One officer then told the two men, "You peeing on my streets? Do you think we want your AIDS infected pee on our streets?"

The lawsuit claims that the officers forced Marconi to kneel in his own urine while they continued to sling epithets. The officers then allegedly became violent.

In the complaint, Marconi claims one of the policemen grabbed his head, slammed it into a wall and then used his hair to mop up the urine. Then the officers took Marconi's shirt off and continued to mop up the urine.

The officers stopped only after Marconi's friend Gora pulled out a Stockton Police Department badge with his star number on it. The officers then fled in their patrol car.

Marconi's lawsuit charges the offending officers with battery, assault, negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional pain.

The lawsuit also holds the officers' direct supervisors responsible as well as the city of San Francisco for "condoning and-or tacitly encouraging the abuse of police authority."

The lawsuit was removed for settlement on Aug. 9. A lawyer for the plaintiff, Lisa Schlittner did not return a call for comment today and the city attorney's office did want to comment on the pending settlement.

The police commission meeting is expected to begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday after a discussion of the lawsuit in closed session.

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