A San Diego County man was awarded $600,000 in damages after he was hospitalized for four days by a “vicious” and "unprovoked" attack by San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies, who left him with fractures to his face, a nearly severed ear and a collapsed lung.
A federal jury determined Deputies Richard Meharg and Kenneth Feistel used excessive force when they unlawfully arrested Morgen Johnson on Oct. 18, 2012, at his home in unincorporated San Diego County.
That night, Johnson's wife, Zana Licht, heard him crying in another room after she went to bed after 10 p.m. He then began throwing things and yelling at himself for several minutes because he was distraught about his finances and his business, according to a complaint filed against the deputies and the county of San Diego.
Licht tried to console her husband, who told her that it is not about her. After receiving a report of yelling from neighbors, three deputies were dispatched to the home and knocked on the front door.
The complaint states Johnson and Licht don’t use their front door because it is sealed shut, so Licht instead opened the garage door. As she did so, she held out her arms and told the deputies everything was OK and she was uninjured.
Johnson, who was only wearing a pair of shorts, soon joined her, raised his hands and told the deputies they were not needed and should leave, the complaint says.
“Within seconds of Mr. Johnson entering the garage and telling the deputies to leave, defendant Meharg rushes at him, grabs him and slams him onto the cement floor in the garage,” the plaintiffs said in the claim.
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The move caused Johnson to suffer a severe head injury. Another deputy allegedly put his weight on Johnson’s legs as Meharg began punching Johnson in his face, head and ribs, the complaint alleges.
Feistel then sicked his sheriff’s K-9 on Johnson, according to the complaint. The dog tore into the side of Johnson’s neck, nearly bit his ear off and gnawed his back multiple times.
Johnson said Feistel then pulled out a large flashlight and began beating him on the back and side, hitting him 10 to 20 times. The complaint alleges Meharg kicked Johnson in the head multiple times, following it up with a shot from his stun gun.
Meanwhile, Licht was yelling at the deputies to stop as she saw blood pouring from her husband's face, the claim describes.
Paramedics were finally called as the deputies got Johnson in handcuffs. Johnson was taken to the hospital, and Meharg told Licht he wanted to search her house. She alleges that when she refused, saying “not after what you have done to my husband,” the deputy pushed her against a car, handcuffed her and told her to let him in the house or she would go to jail.
She gave him the verbal permission to go inside. Licht said deputies questioned her inside the house while others searched her home and took pictures “without a warrant or her consent.”
Johnson was admitted to the hospital for a four-day stay. He was treated for facial fractures, a broken nose, large cuts on the head and neck, a cut that nearly severed half his ear, four fractured ribs, a spinal fracture and a punctured and collapsed lung. He had to undergo several surgeries in the process of recovery.
“The force and violence used by defendants which resulted in these injuries was wholly unnecessary, unjustified and grossly excessive,” says the claim.
In their reports, the deputies wrote that Johnson violently assaulted and resisted them, the complaint says. Johnson was later booked into jail on a felony charge and misdemeanor charge. When the case went to trial, jurors unanimously found Johnson not guilty on all charges.
As a result of the incident, Johnson racked up more than $100,000 in medical bills, he said in the complaint filed in federal court. He claimed he and Licht are entitled to damages for emotional distress as well as Johnson’s physical injuries.
On Feb. 1, jurors in the civil case against the county returned their decision and found Meharg arrested Johnson without probable cause – a violation worth $20,000 in compensation.
The jury also ruled that Meharg and Feistel used excessive force as Johnson was taken into custody, for which the victim should be awarded $580,000.
A county spokesman said the county cannot comment on the case at this time, but they are evaluating possible next steps.
The attorneys representing the County will need to present the verdict to the Board of Supervisors and a decision will be made on what to do from there.
