In documents filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the City of Joplin asked that a lawsuit filed last month by Kevin Russell, his wife Julissa, and son Brant be dismissed.
The lawsuit, which was initially filed in Jasper County Circuit Court and then removed to federal court, alleges that Kevin and Brant Russell were falsely arrested and brutalized by the Joplin Police Department at the location where Kevin Russell's teenage daughter Brooke had just committed suicide. The defendants in the 16-count lawsuit are the city, the police department and officers Austin Wolf and Tyler Christensen.
The motion, which was submitted by attorney Tyler Strodtman, asks that the Joplin Police Department be completely removed from the action. "Joplin Police Department should be dismissed entirely as a defendant because it is simply a subdivision of the city of Joplin and does not have the capacity to sue or be sued."
Counts against the city should be dismissed due to sovereign immunity, Strodtman said.
A motion to strike the plaintiffs' request for punitive damages was also filed.
The contents of the lawsuit can be found at this link.
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