AlaFile E-Notice
01-CV-2022-900890.00
To: WILLIAM MONROE DAWSON JR.
    bill@billdawsonlaw.com
                   NOTICE OF ELECTRONIC FILING
                   IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA
                           EMMANUEL WRIGHT V. MIKE BRYAN ET AL
                                  01-CV-2022-900890.00
                     The following complaint was FILED on 3/25/2022 4:01:31 PM
    Notice Date:    3/25/2022 4:01:31 PM
                                                            JACQUELINE ANDERSON SMITH
                                                                      CIRCUIT COURT CLERK
                                                              JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA
                                                              JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA
                                                           716 N. RICHARD ARRINGTON BLVD.
                                                                      BIRMINGHAM, AL, 35203
                                                                                   205-325-5355
                                                                       jackie.smith@alacourt.gov
                                                        DOCUMENT 1
                                                                                                      ELECTRONICALLY FILED
                                                                                                           3/25/2022 4:02 PM
                                                                                                         01-CV-2022-900890.00
State of Alabama                                                                            Case Number: CIRCUIT COURT OF
                                            COVER SHEET                                            JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA
Unified Judicial System
                                      CIRCUIT COURT - CIVIL CASE                            01-CV-2022-900890.00
                                                                                               JACQUELINE ANDERSON SMITH, CLERK
                                      (Not For Domestic Relations Cases)                    Date of Filing:            Judge Code:
Form ARCiv-93      Rev. 9/18
                                                                                            03/25/2022
                                               GENERAL INFORMATION
                               IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA
                                       EMMANUEL WRIGHT v. MIKE BRYAN ET AL
First Plaintiff:       Business        Individual             First Defendant:         Business                Individual
                       Government      Other                                           Government              Other
NATURE OF SUIT: Select primary cause of action, by checking box (check only one) that best characterizes your action:
TORTS: PERSONAL INJURY                               OTHER CIVIL FILINGS (cont'd)
     WDEA - Wrongful Death                                  MSXX - Birth/Death Certificate Modification/Bond Forfeiture Appeal/
     TONG - Negligence: General                                    Enforcement of Agency Subpoena/Petition to Preserve
     TOMV - Negligence: Motor Vehicle                       CVRT - Civil Rights
     TOWA - Wantonness                                      COND - Condemnation/Eminent Domain/Right-of-Way
     TOPL - Product Liability/AEMLD                         CTMP - Contempt of Court
     TOMM - Malpractice-Medical                             CONT - Contract/Ejectment/Writ of Seizure
     TOLM - Malpractice-Legal                               TOCN - Conversion
     TOOM - Malpractice-Other                               EQND - Equity Non-Damages Actions/Declaratory Judgment/
                                                                   Injunction Election Contest/Quiet Title/Sale For Division
     TBFM - Fraud/Bad Faith/Misrepresentation
                                                            CVUD - Eviction Appeal/Unlawful Detainer
     TOXX - Other:
                                                            FORJ - Foreign Judgment
                                                            FORF - Fruits of Crime Forfeiture
TORTS: PERSONAL INJURY
                                                            MSHC - Habeas Corpus/Extraordinary Writ/Mandamus/Prohibition
     TOPE - Personal Property
                                                            PFAB - Protection From Abuse
     TORE - Real Properly
                                                            EPFA - Elder Protection From Abuse
OTHER CIVIL FILINGS                                         QTLB - Quiet Title Land Bank
     ABAN - Abandoned Automobile                            FELA - Railroad/Seaman (FELA)
     ACCT - Account & Nonmortgage                           RPRO - Real Property
     APAA - Administrative Agency Appeal                    WTEG - Will/Trust/Estate/Guardianship/Conservatorship
     ADPA - Administrative Procedure Act                    COMP - Workers’ Compensation
     ANPS - Adults in Need of Protective Service            CVXX - Miscellaneous Circuit Civil Case
ORIGIN:      F       INITIAL FILING                    A       APPEAL FROM                               O       OTHER
                                                               DISTRICT COURT
             R       REMANDED                          T       TRANSFERRED FROM
                                                               OTHER CIRCUIT COURT
                                                                    Note: Checking "Yes" does not constitute a demand for a
HAS JURY TRIAL BEEN DEMANDED?                  YES     NO           jury trial. (See Rules 38 and 39, Ala.R.Civ.P, for procedure)
RELIEF REQUESTED:                     MONETARY AWARD REQUESTED                    NO MONETARY AWARD REQUESTED
ATTORNEY CODE:
       DAW002                                  3/25/2022 4:02:04 PM                          /s/ WILLIAM MONROE DAWSON JR.
                                           Date                                              Signature of Attorney/Party filing this form
MEDIATION REQUESTED:                           YES    NO      UNDECIDED
Election to Proceed under the Alabama Rules for Expedited Civil Actions:                     YES      NO
                                         DOCUMENT 2
                                                                           ELECTRONICALLY FILED
                                                                               3/25/2022 4:02 PM
                                                                             01-CV-2022-900890.00
                                                                             CIRCUIT COURT OF
                                                                        JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA
                                                                     JACQUELINE ANDERSON SMITH, CLERK
              IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA
   EMMANUEL WRIGHT,
                                                   )
                                                   )
        Plaintiff,                                 )
                                                   )      Civil Action Number:
   v.                                              )
                                                   )
                                                   )
   MICHAEL JONES, individually and in              )
   His capacity as Chief of Police of the
   Town of Brookside; MIKE BRYAN, in his
   official capacity as Mayor of the Town
   of Brookside; and IVORY PRICE,
        Defendants.
                                        COMPLAINT
   1. Plaintiffs is an adult citizen who was victimized by the police officers and
government of the Town of Brookside, Alabama.
   2. The Town of Brookside (“the Town”) is a municipal corporation located within the
Birmingham Division of Jefferson County, Alabama. In lieu of suing the Town, this action
is against the Mayor, Mike Bryan, in his representative capacity. He is the chief executive
of Brookside and can control its taking and keeping the property of arrested persons..
   3. Defendant Ivory Price was a police officer for the Town of Brookside at the time
that the harm was done to Plaintiff.
   4. Defendant Michael Jones was the Chief of Police for the Town of Brookside and
was the chief policymaker and executive of Brookside at the times the matters complained
of herein occurred. He controlled the activities of the police department until his recent
departure, and at all times relevant to the taking of Plaintiff’s property.
                                       DOCUMENT 2
   5. On November 19, 2019, Plaintiff was driving on I-22 and was stopped by
Defendant Ivory Price, allegedly either for windows having too much tint or for having an
improper dealer’s tag on his vehicle. Plaintiff had recently purchased the Jeep in
Mississippi and was travelling to Atlanta when stopped.
   6. Plaintiff and his vehicle were searched though there was no probable cause or
reasonable suspicion to do so. Plaintiff was told that his vehicle was listed as stolen. He
was taken to the Brookside Jail and charged with 7 misdemeanor offenses. Defendant
Price is the Brookside officer who stopped, arrested Plaintiff and took control of his
property and cash.
   7. Plaintiff was held in Brookside for three days before being transferred to the
Jefferson County Jail on the charge of receiving stolen property in the first degree. During
those three days, Plaintiff was held without shoes and was forced to sleep on the floor.
He was denied his normal medicine and was in great discomfort..
   8. When arrested, Plaintiff’s vehicle held a large amount of his belongings. Included
were expensive clothes, luggage, shoes, a Rolex watch, cell phones and considerable
personal jewelry. Plaintiff was an entertainment promoter and used expensive furnishings
in conjunction with his employment. He also had personal papers including property
records for real estate he was purchasing in Jefferson County and in California.
   9. Plaintiff also $9,500 in cash with him when he was stopped. It and the property in
the vehicle were taken by defendant Price and Brookside upon the arrest.
   10. Defendant Price wrote in his police report that he found $6.657 in the vehicle,
along with GUCCI luggage and bags, a large diamond necklace, bracelet, Rolex watch,
and numerous maps, deeds and other papers.
                                        DOCUMENT 2
   11. After Plaintiff was finally transferred, booked and released from the Jefferson
County Jail, he was given his personal clothes and identification, as the other matters of
property remained with Brookside.
   12. Plaintiff called Brookside and inquired about the 2015 Jeep he had been driving
but was never given an answer about where it was or its status. He was left without funds
or transportation to find his way to Brookside.
   13. Plaintiff also called Brookside numerous times in an effort to recover his property
but never got an answer. He called over a period of two years and never got an answer
about either his vehicle or his personal property.
   14. The defendants nor Brookside never filed to condemn any of the property.
   15. As phone calls did no good, Plaintiff got a lawyer to write the Town Clerk on
February 17, 2022 to request return of his property and state that suit would be filed.
There has been no response. Hence this litigation.
   16. Plaintiff’s lawyer did write the wrecker service and was informed that the Jeep was
taken to its lot to be held for Brookside, but that Brookside came and got it a few days
later. The paperwork from the wrecker service bears that out.
   17. Plaintiff has suffered a loss of income from being deprived of his money and
property. He was to promote entertainment in Atlanta, but that was cancelled by his arrest
and incarceration. Also, being deprived of his funds impaired his ability to travel and work.
He has lost the use of his property and had the expense of replacing expensive items of
clothes, shoes and other items. He also was unable to finance real estate that he was
buying since the deeds and financial papers were kept from him.            One property in
California was foreclosed due to his inability to pay since Defendants had all of his funds.
                                       DOCUMENT 2
   18. Plaintiff seeks declaratory and injunctive relief in order to force defendants to
return his property or to pay him for the reasonable value of such items. Plaintiff seeks
actual damages for the loss of use of his property, for mental anguish and emotional hurt,
for conversion and punitive damages in an amount to punish defendants and to deter
Brookside and others from similar lawless behavior.
   19. COUNT ONE:          CONVERSION         Plaintiff avers that Defendants wrongfully
converted his property as named in the earlier paragraphs of this complaint. He seeks
return of each item and appropriate damages for the detention, loss of use, damage to
any item, and appropriate monetary damages, both actual and punitive, for loss of income
resulting from the conversion of his property by Defendants.
   20. COUNT TWO:            INJUNCTIVE RELIEF: Plaintiff is entitled to an injunction
requiring Defendants to be ordered to return his property without further delay following
their wrongful detention of it.
   21. COUNT THREE: IMPROPER BAILMENT: Even though the property may have
been legally seized or obtained by Brookside, defendants were in a bailment relationship
with Plaintiff and had a duty to safeguard his property. The failure and refusal to account
for such and return it to him indicates that Defendants have violated that obligation and
caused him harm for which damages are due. .
   22. COUNT FOUR- ACCOUNTING                The total failure of Defendants to respond to
the legitimate requests of Plaintiff requires that they be ordered to account for each item
of Plaintiff which was taken from him, providing information about where each item is at
present and the circumstances of its destruction or removal.
WHEREFORE, plaintiff seeks the following relief:
                                         DOCUMENT 2
   a. That defendants be required to account for each item of property taken from
        Plaintiff and his vehicle;
   b. The return of all such property or the fair market value of each such item which is
        not returned,
   c. Appropriate monetary damages for Plaintiff’s loss of use of such property and for
        any incidental losses incurred by Plaintiff as a result of not having the use of his
        property and funds,
   d. Actual damages for mental anguish and inconvenience for the violation of his
        rights as alleged herein,
   e. Appropriate punitive damages for the conversion of his property
   f.   Any other relief to which Plaintiff might be entitled, including all costs of this action
        and reasonable legal fees.
                                            By: /s/ W. M. Dawson
                                            Attorney for Plaintiff
                                            1736 Oxmoor Road
                                            Birmingham, AL 35209
                                            205 795-3512
                                            Bill@billdawsonlaw.com
Address of Plaintiff:
% W. M. Dawson
1736 Oxmoor Rd,
Birmingham, AL 35209
Address Defendants Jones and Bryan for service:
% Brookside City Hall
2711 Municipal Lane
Brookside, AL 35036
Address of Defendant Ivory Price
% Lipscomb Police Dept
5512 Avenue H
Lipscomb, AL 35020