ACLU files lawsuit against police in drug case

David Kihara

Friday, April 15, 2005 | 8:45 a.m.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday against the Metro Police department and several officers, claiming the police violated the civil rights of a man when they left drugs in the man's car and allowed him to be charged with drug possession.

The civil suit alleges that Metro Police violated the rights of Mark Lilly when officers planted drugs in Lilly's car as part of a police exercise to train drug-sniffing dogs. The two officers, Kevin Collmar and David Parker, did not testify that the police put the drugs in Lilly's vehicle when the case was heard in court, and Lilly faced charges stemming from planted drugs.

"The ACLU and (joint attorney Cal Potter) are seeking some measure of justice for Mr. Lilly," said Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada chapter of the ACLU. "We want to make sure that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and the officers responsible for arresting Mark Lilly are held accountable for their actions."

Collmar and Parker were suspended after the incident, and in late March an independent review panel recommended that Metro fire both officers. Sheriff Bill Young went against that recommendation, however, and decided that suspensions were sufficient punishment.

Lilly is entitled to more than $50,000 in damages for the alleged civil rights violation, the suit claims.

Metro would not comment on the case because of the ongoing lawsuit, said Metro Deputy Chief Mike Ault, who overseas Metro's Internal Affairs division and is familiar with the case.

"This case will be turned over to our legal team and they will decide how to proceed," Ault said.

The lawsuit alleges that Metro and the officers acted with malicious and deliberate indifference when they knowingly planted drugs inside Lilly's 1989 Mercedes 190E as part of the police exercise on July 15, 2004. Lilly had been detained earlier for allegedly trying to sell fake drugs to undercover officers.

The drugs, which were used for police training exercises, were, for some reason, never taken out of the car. Collmar and Parker did not testify that the drugs -- cocaine -- were part of the police exercise during a court hearing in August.

The officer's omission led to Lilly's arrest, incarceration and charges of transporting a controlled substance, and the suit alleged that Lilly faced false imprisonment and false charges, as well as unlawful search and seizure of his property.

Lilly's Mercedes was impounded by Metro and auctioned off before the mess was straightened out.

The drug transportation charge was eventually dropped and Lilly pleaded guilty to selling fake drugs.

Lilly suffered damages because of the arrest, incarceration and detention that stemmed from the incident, said Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the ACLU of Nevada.

But Lichentstein also said that the case tarnishes the reputation of police officers who do not act improperly.

"In the end, the people who lose are the good and honest police," he said. "What we are looking for is to ensure this does not happen again."

Peck agreed that the case undermines public confidence in Metro, but added that the Clark County District Attorney's office should also bring charges against the officers for failing to disclose that they originally planted the drugs.

David Roger, the county's district attorney, said the D.A.'s office examined the case and found that charges are not warranted.

"We reviewed the case and didn't find sufficient evidence to bring charges," he said. "Everything was pretty clumsy, but we didn't see any evidence that the officers intentionally lied."