It’s hard to imagine a more evocative name for an excessive-force case than Reynaldo Ramirez v. Jose "Taser Joe" Martinez. That’s the case style of the decision the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued May 15. The judges ruled that Jim Wells County sheriff’s deputy Jose Martinez was entitled to qualified immunity for arresting landscape business owner Reynaldo Ramirez. But they ruled he was not entitled to qualified immunity on Ramirez’s excessive force claim after Martinez allegedly "tased Ramirez in the chest." Odd nicknames occasionally make it into the style of federal complaints filed by a plaintiff. "You know, I did it as a little bit of a joke. This is a taser case, and I thought ‘Taser Joe’ was good name," says Chris Gale, Ramirez’s lawyer and a partner in Gale, Wilson & Sanchez, explaining why he put the nickname in the complaint his client filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He adds that, during a deposition, an employee who worked with Martinez testified that Martinez was referred to as "Taser Joe." But Brian Miller, of counsel at Corpus Christi’s Royston, Rayzor, Vickery & Williams says "Taser Joe" is not a nickname his client goes by. "It’s something the plaintiffs slapped on" the case, Miller says. "We never put anything like that in the style that we filed and so have two different styles to the case," Miller says. Nevertheless, the "Taser Joe" label stuck on the style of the case, from the complaint’s initial filing up to the 5th Circuit. "It’s always been a higher priority to defeat this case before trial than worry about the effect that this nickname might have on trained judges who are trained to look beyond that kind of thing," says Miller, who plans to file a motion for en banc review with the 5th Circuit.
"Carry the Load"
Intellectual property attorney Darin Klemchuk, managing partner of Klemchuk Kubasta in Dallas, plans to put his best foot forward for veterans over the Memorial Day weekend. Klemchuk says he will lead one of the approximately 40 teams expected to participate in the Dallas "Carry the Load" 20-hour walkathon that is aimed at focusing attention on the reason for Memorial Day and raising funds for organizations that serve active duty military personnel, veterans, law enforcement, firefighters and their families. "I’m a veteran, so I’m pretty passionate about veteran causes," says Klemchuk, noting that he served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 1991 to 1994. His team will select a Dallas area veteran in whose name team members will "carry the load" in this instance a backpack while participating in the walkathon, Klemchuk says. He says he hopes to have about 10 team members walking in the event. The goal for the Dallas event, Klemchuk says, is to raise about $1 million, of which approximately $570,000 already has been raised. He says his team’s goal is to raise $10,000 and it already has raised more than $5,000. Klemchuk says the national "Carry the Load" walkathon that began in West Point, N.Y., will end on May 26 in Dallas. The Dallas walkathon is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on May 26 at Reverchon Park and will conclude about noon on May 27, he says. The team will do the walkathon in relay format and probably will participate in shifts, Klemchuk says. He says he will walk for "a significant amount of that time, if not all of it." Although he is involved in boxing, weight training, running and other sports, he has not done any training for the walkathon, Klemchuk says. "I’ll just be sore for a week afterwards," he says. Klemchuk says organizations that will benefit from the Dallas walkathon include Assist the Officers, Heroes on the Water, Friends of Dallas Fire-Rescue, Tip of the Spear Foundation and Sons of the Flag Burn Foundation.
