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Council to weigh settlement of $20,000 in T-shirts arrest

By Daniel J. Chacon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 3, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

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A woman who claimed that she was wrongfully arrested for selling T-shirts emblazoned with Rocktober outside Coors Field during the 2007 World Series may receive a $20,000 settlement from the city of Denver.

Christina Eyre was selling the T-shirts Oct. 27, 2007, when a lawyer from Major League Baseball and police Detective Nick Rogers walked up and told her she was selling counterfeit goods, said David Lane, Eyre's attorney.

Eyre, who lives in Denver, told the pair that she copyrighted the word Rocktober on Oct. 3, 2007 - the phrase appeared in the Rocky Mountain News at least three times that day - and showed them a copyright registration and a peddler's license, court documents said.

Eyre also told them that her attorney was negotiating with the league and the Rockies to sell them the copyright, the documents said.

Lane said that the league's lawyer and Rogers demanded that she stop selling the T-shirts.

When Eyre refused, "The lawyer said, 'Arrest her,' so the cop slaps the cuffs on her," Lane said.

"She says, 'Can I have your business card, officer?' He says, 'You want to play that way?' and clamps the cuffs down, where she has nerve damage in her thumb now."

Luis Corchado, an assistant director in the litigation section of the city attorney's office, said "the parties disagree on some of the important facts but reached a mutual compromise to resolve the case."

Neither Rogers nor a spokesperson for the Colorado Rockies could be reached for comment late Friday.

The city attorney's office is recommending that Eyre be paid $20,000 to settle the case. The City Council will consider the proposed settlement Monday.

Eyre received a separate financial settlement from the Rockies and Major League Baseball, court documents said.

That settlement, which is confidential, clears the Rockies and the league of "any unlawful or improper conduct," the documents said.

Comments

  • January 3, 2009

    5:58 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    luv2skico writes:

    Jackboted thugs.

  • January 3, 2009

    7:23 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    wygent writes:

    Since when do police officers take orders from private attorneys? Can I call my attorney and have, say, Mike Shanahan arrested for betrayal of public trust or general mopery? The local police (yes that includes Arvada and Aurora and all the rest) have to address some very serious training issues immediately. The officers on the street clearly have not been properly trained in a number of areas. This article portrays one area. The arrest and involuntary medical treatment of the guy in Arvada last month for (rightly) telling a police officer that he didn't have to give him his military history or other information for being in his own home when his roommate was arrested was another. The statement by the Arvada police spokesperson defending the officers in that case was even more indicative of the sorry state of training and preparation of police personnel in the Denver area. There are a lot of good people trying to do a difficult job, but they have to be properly trained or they become a serious liability for the community.

  • January 3, 2009

    7:51 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Frank_Zappa writes:

    "general mopery..." I love it :)

  • January 3, 2009

    8:17 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    whazzamattau writes:

    Unions protecting police are totally insensitive to citizen's rights. This breeds a culture of superiority and insensitivity because a union structure rewards seniority over everything else. I was once almost arrested for attempting to alert an officer to an assault taking place just a few blocks away. The police officer was just too busy doing nothing to be bothered with protecting the poor woman that was being pounded by a young thug. He finally responded, but not before making it very clear I was not welcome to disrupt his leisure time.

  • January 3, 2009

    8:50 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Doug4CityCouncil writes:

    That young woman should have been armed as should all the rest of you. Police need to read and understand the Constitution and Bill of Rights since they have sworn to uphod and defend the ideals in that document.

    Absolute fidelity to the Constitution is NOT optional. Failure is incompetance and insubordination. Both are cause for termination.

  • January 3, 2009

    8:59 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    squeakywheel writes:

    It takes over a year to get a copyright.

    This story is one-sided and smells funny.

    Nerve damage, right.

    I hope she gets nothing.

  • January 3, 2009

    6:24 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Mike_In_Hartsel writes:

    MLB, NFL, and many others unlawfully use the "counterfeit" laws to quash proper and legal activities. Monster Cable is a major exploiter. We need laws awarding all damages and costs so they can be properly sued to stop them.