Fresno police sued over alleged inaction on domestic violence

A federal civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of two domestic abuse victims — one deceased, the other living but paralyzed — says Fresno police didn’t do enough to help the women even though they were clearly in dangerous situations.

Fresno attorney Kevin Little was flanked by a wheelchair bound Pamela Motley and the daughter of Cindy Raygoza, as well as other family members and supporters, at a Friday news conference. He said the lawsuit was not only for them, but for “all the women who are suffering in silence.” Fresno has a high rate of domestic violence, he said, and the true numbers are greater because many women don’t report the abuse.

“This is a community that desperately needs vigorous, full enforcement of the domestic violence laws,” Little said.

The lawsuit names specific Fresno officers, as well as the city, as defendants. It alleges police were slow to respond, and when they did, they failed to provide victims with information on domestic violence as required by state law. They also allegedly belittled one victim who reported domestic violence.

Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer said he hasn’t seen the lawsuit, but he defended his department’s actions on the issue.

Last year, he said, the department recorded 7,974 domestic violence reports, made 2,632 arrests and issued 1,126 emergency protective orders for victims. In addition, he said the department does quarterly operations with the violent crime impact team to locate and arrest people wanted for domestic violence crimes, and works with Crime Stoppers on highlighting domestic violence.

“We do everything that we possibly can to combat domestic violence and to prevent people from becoming victims of domestic violence,” Dyer said.

In Motley’s case, her estranged husband had admitted to police he was aggressive and in physical confrontations with her, but he still wasn’t arrested. Had he been , he likely would have remained in custody for violating bail conditions from an earlier incident where Motley, her husband and his mistress had a meeting. At that meeting, Paul Motley hit his mistress with a beer mug, seriously injuring her. He was then arrested, but released.

The lawsuit documents several incidents of subsequent harassment by Motley, as well as calls to Fresno police and alleged law enforcement inaction.

On April 12, 2014, Paul Motley was lying in wait for Motley as she returned to her parents’ home after work. He shot his estranged wife in the face at close range and then shot himself.

“I’m a victim of domestic violence, which has left me quadriplegic,” Pamela Motley said Friday. “My hope is for awareness, education and prevention of domestic violence and to educate the police department.”

In the case of Raygoza, the lawsuit says she called police in February 2014 because her ex-boyfriend, Michael Reams — who had been terrorizing her — broke into her home, attacked her, pinned her to the floor by her throat and choked her. He fled before police arrived.

Raygoza told a Fresno officer that she was a domestic violence survivor from a prior marriage. The officer then allegedly criticized Raygoza for her “choices of men.” He then told Raygoza that she now knew of Reams’ tendencies, and so any additional calls to police would get no response because of that. But the incidents continued, and Raygoza never again called police because of that statement, the suit says.

On July 14, 2014, a knife-wielding Reams again broke into Raygoza’s home. He pinned Raygoza to the ground, and stabbed her repeatedly. Neighbors called police, but by the time officers got to the apartment, it was too late.

Reams was still stabbing Raygoza’s lifeless body when officers arrived, the suit says. They shot him in the head, killing him.

Little on Friday encouraged other women to come forward and said the lawsuit could be amended later to add more plaintiffs. If it gets large enough, Little even said he may seek class-action status for the lawsuit.

This story was originally published June 19, 2015 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Fresno police sued over alleged inaction on domestic violence."