A federal jury deliberated less than two hours Thursday before finding that a former Portland police sergeant did not use excessive force when he pepper-sprayed a woman in the face in Kenton Park in September 2020.

Marie Tyvoll, then 59, was setting up a “community aid” tent in the park when dozens of Portland police arrived to clear it of weapons, including shields or poles, ahead of an evening demonstration and a march on September 28, 2020.

Tyvoll’s attorney, Rebecca Cambreling, argued that Tyvoll was simply holding his cell phone in his right hand filming police when then Sgt. Justin D. Damerville splashed her in the face without warning.

Tyvoll was wearing a COVID-19 mask and goggles and continued to film police, according to a video played in court.

Attorney Karen O’Kasey, who represents Damerville, said Tyvoll disobeyed his order to “turn around” as other officers worked to remove a large pole from a man several feet in front of her.

Tyvoll then struck Damerville’s right hand as he picked up the pepper spray container and grabbed his left hand, prompting Damerville to hit Tyvoll in the face with the spray, O’Kasey told jurors.

O’Kasey argued Damerville’s actions were justified because Tyvoll engaged in “physical resistance” as he tried to maintain a safe space between the crowd and officers focused on the man with a pole. She also showed jurors a screenshot of Tyvoll shortly after the pepper spray blast and pointed out that her eyes were not red, watery or watery and noted that she continued to sit in the park and film the police.

“Citizens have a right to observe, without a doubt,” O’Kasey said in closing argument. “Citizens have no right to intervene or engage physically with an officer.”

Cambreling countered that Tyvoll did not pose an “imminent threat” to the officers and that Tyvoll’s arm went up “inadvertently” to protect himself, not to hit the spray can.

Cambreling also said that Tyvoll was not given a chance to turn on uneven ground in the park.

“I didn’t have a second to process the order or comply before he pepper sprayed me in the face,” Tyvoll said.

The seven-member jury began deliberations around 12:30 p.m. in federal court in Portland and reached a verdict by 1:55 p.m.

The jury also rejected a claim that the city was responsible for Damerville’s use of pepper spray.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Mallory R. Beebe said Damerville was authorized to use “reasonable force” to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

Tyvoll, now 63, said after the verdict was announced that he feared the outcome would “only give the police greater agency to cause harm” and he feared for the safety of others exercising their right to protest peacefully.

Her lawyer added: “While we are disappointed with the outcome, we are grateful our client was able to tell her story to a jury of her peers and make her voice heard.”

Damerville resigned from the Bureau of Police as a sergeant in May 2022 after 11 years with the agency, including as a member of the Bureau’s former Rapid Response Team, which responded to civil disturbances. Now working as an officer with the Brentwood Police Department in Tennessee, he was sworn in as an officer in late May.

The city has previously paid $100,000 to solve a lawsuit filed by the man with the pole who had been cornered by the police in the park that night.

Dmitri Stoyanoff, 40, of Vancouver sued the police, saying he was arrested for refusing to give up the “Vote Register Here” sign he was holding during the Black Lives Matter demonstration.

Stoyanoff said police tried to take his sign “for no legal reason” and when he struggled to hold on to it, he was sprayed in the face and eyes, thrown to the ground, kicked, handcuffed and charged that he intervened with the police. The charge was dropped on his original arraignment, according to court records.

Damerville sprayed him and Officer Matthew Bigoni took him to the ground, according to his suit.

City attorneys initially responded to the lawsuit, saying officers were authorized to temporarily seize the pole from Stoyanoff’s sign for safekeeping, citing it as a dangerous and deadly weapon.

They argued that the police acted lawfully in responding to or attempting to prevent a civil disturbance or riot, and that any harm to Stoyanoff was the result of “his own actions or inactions or was otherwise the result of his failure to mitigate the damage,” Beebe wrote. in a response filed in court.

Amid overnight protests in the city following the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a federal judge on June 26, 2020, in another case issued a sweeping order that Portland police not to fire launchers any longer less lethal and to use pepper spray on employees. in passive resistance. The order also required police to minimize exposure to pepper spray for people not involved.

— Maxine Bernstein covers federal courts and criminal justice. Contact her at 503-221-8212, [email protected], follow her on X @maxoregonianor on LinkedIn.

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