On November 14, 2014, David Riepenhoff and Daniel Downey received a jury verdict in favor of two Licking County, Ohio Sheriff’s Detectives. The case was Jacqueline Valentino v. Jeff Packard, et al. In the case, Mrs. Valentino alleged the officers violated her Fourth Amendment rights and Indiana Law when they interviewed her as part of a murder investigation. The case was tried in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division.
The case arose out of a murder investigation by the Licking County Sheriff’s Office in July, 2010. Upon receiving a suspicious death call on July 5th, Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp’s Detective Division immediately began an investigation. By the early morning hours of July 6th, the Detectives identified Mark Valentino as the primary suspect in the crime and found that he stole the victim’s guns and fled to Kokomo, Indiana. Later that day, the officers traveled to Kokomo to continue their investigation. The Detectives worked in conjunction with the Kokomo, Indiana Police Department (“KPD”) in attempting to locate Mark Valentino while in Indiana.
That evening, the KPD stopped a car driven by Jacqueline Valentino, Mark’s wife. The officers suspected the car contained Mark Valentino or evidence of his crime. Mrs. Valentino was handcuffed for about half of the 45 minute stop. During the stop, the Ohio detectives and the KPD officers interviewed her about her husband’s whereabouts.
After the traffic stop ended, Mrs. Valentino was transported to the KPD headquarters and interviewed further. At the KPD the detectives interviewed her on video for about 1 ½ hours. During the interview, they elicited information about her knowledge of her husband’s crimes and his possible whereabouts in the Kokomo area. Ultimately, working with Mrs. Valentino’s text messages to her husband during the interview, they set-up a rendezvous between Mrs. Valentino and her husband for later that evening. Mrs. Valentino was taken to her car and she drove it to the location where Mark Valentino would be apprehended by the KPD if he showed-up. The officers discovered Mark Valentino near that location and, after a high speed chase, took him into custody. He was later extradited to Ohio, prosecuted by Licking County Prosecuting Attorney Ken Oswalt and convicted. Mark Valentino is now serving a lengthy prison term in Ohio for his crimes.
Jacqueline Valentino, however, sued the Licking County Sheriff’s Office and the two Detectives, the KPD and several KPD officers. Mrs. Valentino claimed the officers violated her rights under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Indiana Law, among other claims, during her four-hour interaction with the officers that night. She alleged she suffered emotional distress and other damages as a result of their conduct.
The Licking County Sheriff’s Office and several KPD officers were dismissed prior to trial. However, claims remained against two Licking County Sheriff’s Detectives in their individual capacities, the KPD and one KPD Lieutenant in his individual capacity.
At trial, Mrs. Valentino argued the officers essentially “arrested” her at the traffic stop and that she remained unlawfully in custody of the officers for the next several hours at the KPD and during the rendezvous. Mrs. Valentino claimed the traffic stop lasted unreasonably long and that the KPD interview was against her will. She alleges she was in custody throughout the evening, about 4 hours in total.
The defense argued that the officers had the right to detain Mrs. Valentino for that length of time and in that manner during the traffic stop and that Mrs. Valentino voluntarily continued the interview at the KPD station thereafter. She voluntarily participated in setting up a rendezvous with Mark Valentino to lure him into police custody. The defense showed video evidence and testified that they told Mrs. Valentino the interview at KPD headquarters was voluntary and that she was not under arrest. They also produced evidence suggesting that Mrs. Valentino willingly participated in luring her husband into police custody.
On November 14, 2014, the jury agreed with the defense and returned a verdict in favor of all officers on all claims. The jury found that the officers did not violate Mrs. Valentino’s rights at the traffic stop, at the KPD or during the rendezvous.
The Detectives were defended at trial by FHKAD attorneys David Riepenhoff and Daniel Downey. Reflecting on jury’s verdict, attorney David Riepenhoff said: “These officers truly deserved this result. They did great police work and acted within the law. We were grateful for the chance to provide them a vigorous defense.”
Congratulations to the Licking County Sheriff’s Office and Detectives and to the FHKAD defense team!