Miami Beach cop is target of second lawsuit

UPDATED @ 10:00am, Aug. 22, 2012:

Updated with Miami Beach Police arrest affidavit for Miguel Lawson which is embedded at bottom of this post. Or read the affidavit by clicking here.

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Three Miami Beach police officers are being sued by a Sao Paulo attorney according to papers filed in United States District Court in Miami last June.

Miguel Lawson, an American attorney who practices in Brazil, is suing Miami Beach officers Philippe Archer, Neill Fagan and Mishart Torres. Lawson's suit says cops deprived him of his civil rights when they arrested him on June 18, 2008.

Also named in the lawsuit are the City of Miami Beach and David Wallack's Mango's Tropical Cafe.

(Archer has also been named in a separate lawsuit for his part in the arrest of a French-speaking tourist in Aug. 2008.)

In the suit, Lawson alleges that after spending an evening at Mango's on Ocean Drive on June 18, 2008, a manager followed him outside and accused him of trespassing.

Lawson says that the Mango's manager flagged down Miami beach cops and told them Lawson "was not wanted on the premises."

Lawson says the manager told cops he wanted to "initiate a criminal complaint for trespassing against Lawson."

In his suit Lawson accuses the cops of grabbing him so forcefully that his shirt ripped.

Here's what happened next according to Lawson's lawsuit:

Lawson requested that the officers provide him with a reasonable articulable suspicion for his detention on public property.

Lawson advised the officers he was a Harvard educated attorney and had studied with Barack Obama.

One of the officers replied, "F**k Obama, see if he can help you now."

Although no criminal act was committed in their presence, the officers handcuffed Lawson, arrested him, and threw him in the back of a police vehicle which took him to jail.

The suit alleges that the cops violated Lawson's "right to be free from an unreasonable seizure and unlawful arrest as guaranteed by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments."

Lawson also claims that his arrest was retaliation by cops because he asked why he was being detained. Lawson claims because of that, his free speech rights were violated.

The charges against Lawson were dismissed when he made his first appearance before a judge on the morning following his arrest.

Click to enlarge.

Lawson is asking for compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $15,000.

Lawson's lawsuit is embedded below.

Gov.uscourts.flsd.402206.1.0

Miguel_Lawson_Arrest__2008-23407_2012-08-21_10-59-53