Plaintiff, Alexis Valdes, seeks a volunteer lawyer to represent him in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against a law enforcement officer and the City of Margate. Plaintiff alleges three claims: Excessive Force and False Arrest against the Officer and a Monell claim for unconstitutional policy, custom, and failure to train against the City of Margate. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that while responding to a car accident, the Officer encountered Plaintiff, saw that Plaintiff was “backing away” from the Officer “as if in a fighting stance,” and escalated the encounter from there, causing the Officer and Plaintiff to grapple on the ground until the Officer struck him three times in the face. Afterwards, Plaintiff was charged with resisting arrest. The Officer’s body worn camera was shut off for the one-minute span when the Officer struck Plaintiff in the face. The Defendants have filed a Motion to Dismiss but the Motion is only directed at the Monell claim against the City of Margate, so the sufficiency of Plaintiff’s claims against the Officer are not challenged at this stage. This case is at an early stage, and representation would entail representing Plaintiff during all pretrial proceedings, including discovery, at a potential settlement conference, and at trial, if necessary.

If interested, please refer to the Court’s website at https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/volunteer-opportunities-and-pro-bono-assistance, specifically the information on how to Volunteer to Represent a Client For a Specific Case. Any questions, please email FLSD_ProBono@flsd.uscourts.gov