OFF THE WIRE
A federal magistrate judge Thursday didn't have to order Knox County or the Sheriff's Office to return personal property seized during a 2009 raid of a Knoxville motorcycle club's headquarters.
That's because they volunteered to do it.
As for other items claimed specifically as Outlaw Motorcycle Club Inc. property, that's another story — one that now requires a ride east from Nashville for the club's regional biker boss.
The move to get personal and club property back stems from a $6 million federal civil-rights lawsuit between the parties — specifically a motion filed by attorney Phil Lomonaco on behalf of the club, its officers and members who claim items were taken during a 2009 New Year's Eve raid of the group's 205 Clifton Road clubhouse. The lawsuit, filed in May 2010, alleges abusive tactics on the part of authorities and lists a slew of alleged constitutional violations.
Named as defendants are both Knox County and the city of Knoxville; Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones, whose agency launched the raid; then-Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV; and any officers who participated in the raid.
In the lawsuit, Lomonaco said authorities, "broke furniture, destroyed windows, smashed in (unlocked) doors with a battering ram." He accused deputies of taking grave markers of Outlaws members who had died, as well as items such as electronics, cash and jewelry.
During a hearing in mid-October, U.S. Magistrate Judge C. Clifford Shirley ordered a legible list of seized property be handed to Lomonaco and instructed him to have his clients review the list and write down which property belonged to which member.
In court Thursday, Shirley reviewed the list. On it, club members initialed their names by the property they were claiming, including guns and ammo, pills, clothing accessories and a cellphone.
Shirley then asked the defendants' attorneys if they planned to return the items. They said yes. Shirley did not set a deadline for those items to be returned but said he expected it to be done within a reasonable time frame.
But other property on the list, with the letters OMC initialed by it, remained in limbo as Shirley said he didn't know if that property should be returned to the local, regional or national club.
A federal magistrate judge Thursday didn't have to order Knox County or the Sheriff's Office to return personal property seized during a 2009 raid of a Knoxville motorcycle club's headquarters.
That's because they volunteered to do it.
As for other items claimed specifically as Outlaw Motorcycle Club Inc. property, that's another story — one that now requires a ride east from Nashville for the club's regional biker boss.
The move to get personal and club property back stems from a $6 million federal civil-rights lawsuit between the parties — specifically a motion filed by attorney Phil Lomonaco on behalf of the club, its officers and members who claim items were taken during a 2009 New Year's Eve raid of the group's 205 Clifton Road clubhouse. The lawsuit, filed in May 2010, alleges abusive tactics on the part of authorities and lists a slew of alleged constitutional violations.
Named as defendants are both Knox County and the city of Knoxville; Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones, whose agency launched the raid; then-Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV; and any officers who participated in the raid.
In the lawsuit, Lomonaco said authorities, "broke furniture, destroyed windows, smashed in (unlocked) doors with a battering ram." He accused deputies of taking grave markers of Outlaws members who had died, as well as items such as electronics, cash and jewelry.
During a hearing in mid-October, U.S. Magistrate Judge C. Clifford Shirley ordered a legible list of seized property be handed to Lomonaco and instructed him to have his clients review the list and write down which property belonged to which member.
In court Thursday, Shirley reviewed the list. On it, club members initialed their names by the property they were claiming, including guns and ammo, pills, clothing accessories and a cellphone.
Shirley then asked the defendants' attorneys if they planned to return the items. They said yes. Shirley did not set a deadline for those items to be returned but said he expected it to be done within a reasonable time frame.
But other property on the list, with the letters OMC initialed by it, remained in limbo as Shirley said he didn't know if that property should be returned to the local, regional or national club.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/dec/02/knox-authorities-biker-club-members-working/
