Paterson will pay $1.2M to settle eight lawsuits related to police

PATERSON — The City Council voted Tuesday night to pay out more than $1.2 million to settle eight legal cases involving the Paterson police department, including three excessive force lawsuits.

The largest settlement was for $500,000 for Justin Montgomery, a Paterson man who claimed then-Paterson police officer Spencer Finch beat him in the face with a flashlight, knocking out some teeth and breaking his nose, in a dispute over allegations about ice cream being stolen from a bodega.

Finch is facing pending criminal charges in that incident.

“I feel very sorry for the victim, because I saw the pictures,” said Council President Alex Mendez. “We have to prevent this from happening.”

Councilman Michael Jackson, who cast the only vote against the Montgomery settlement, said he didn’t think the deal was fair to the young man.

“He got his teeth knocked out, his face beat in, and he was falsely accused,” Jackson said.

Jackson said the incident represented the latest case in Paterson of Black people being mistreated by city police officers. He called the settlement amount “an embarrassment,” asserting Montgomery should have gotten more money.

More from Paterson Press: Why is Paterson settling cop lawsuit with criminal charges still pending?

What prompted Montgomery's lawsuit?

The Montgomery incident happened in December 2018 and the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office waited more than four years to file criminal charges against Finch, an action taken only after video recordings from a 2021 arrest resulted in Finch’s termination and a separate criminal case.

Several council members defended the settlement, noting that Montgomery agreed to it.

“That’s the settlement he wants,” said Councilman Luis Velez. “We are here blessing his wishes.”

Montgomery’s lawyer, Frank Arleo, said he was satisfied with the outcome.

“We’re happy that we were finally able to get justice for Justin Montgomery for what happened to him," Arleo said.

Paterson still faces a separate lawsuit over the 2021 incident, for which a jury last December acquitted him of criminal charges.

The attorney for the alleged victim in that case, Brandon Cosby, said he would be able to use in the civil proceeding evidence that was barred from the criminal trial – including the fact that Finch had been fired, faced a separate indictment involving Montgomery, and had 14 excessive force complaints filed against him.

Cosby’s lawyer, Matthew Priore, said the incidents involving Montgomery and Cosby were strikingly similar, in that he said they involved young men with no prior crimes being assaulted by Finch using the same large flashlight.

Priore said the police department should have taken Montgomery’s complaint five years ago more seriously.

“Had Paterson acted appropriately in the Montgomery case, then Brendan Cosby would not have suffered a beating at the hands of Spencer Finch less than three years later,” Priore said.

Eric Kleiner, Finch’s lawyer in the criminal cases, has predicted his client would be cleared a second time for the charges involving Montgomery. Kleiner said he hoped Paterson will try to recoup its $500,000 after the outcome of the Montgonery criminal trial.

Kleiner also took issue with Priore's comments about Finch.

"Any cop who arrests hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of violent criminals will get a few false allegations which were all summarily proven false and dismissed,” Kleiner said. “Robbers, rapists and assault arrestees make stuff up to get out from under the jail. Mr. Priore seems to rely on convicted violent people as gospel.”

Additional settlements approved by Paterson Council

The Council on Tuesday also voted in favor of a $160,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit filed by three members of a Paterson family — Humberto Guzman, Elba Gonzalez and Alberto Guzman — who accused city cops of using excessive force in 2019 in an incident at their home on Park Avenue.

The third police force deal approved a $94,000 payment to a Paterson Museum employee, Mohamed Khalil, who claimed he was beaten by cops at police headquarters when he went there to file a complaint in 2016. Court records say a federal court trial began in Khalil’s case last November but was stopped when a tentative settlement was reached.

The fourth settled civil lawsuit was for $65,000, paid out to Gina Zavala-Yupanqui, who alleged she was injured when the car in which she was a passenger was struck in 2017 by a Paterson police vehicle speeding to the scene of a motor vehicle accident.

The council also approved four workers' compensation cases involving the police department - $270,000 for Kevin Collins, a detective who retired more than eight years ago, $55,000 for Officer Ismael Kivanc, $45,000 for Officer Juan Sieira, and $73,300 for police civilian employee Gregory Gourley.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson will spend $1.2M to settle 8 police-related lawsuits