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Lawsuit against Evansville police officer settled for $337,500

MADISON — The insurer for the city of Evansville has agreed to pay $337,500 to settle a lawsuit brought against an Evansville police officer who unlawfully disclosed a woman's address to her abusive ex-husband, according to a document filed in the case.

The settlement was reached in mediation in March, two years after federal jurors found that Officer Chris Jones violated the Driver's Privacy Protection Act when he gave Mary Mezera's ex-husband, Jimmy Reinars, her address in Beaver Dam.

Mezera had obtained a restraining order against Reinars and moved from the Evansville area to Beaver Dam without telling him to escape his "campaign of harassment," her attorney said.

In February 2006, Reinars called Evansville police, asking for help locating Mezera, saying he had papers for her. Jones looked up Mezera's address in motor vehicle records and then checked Reinars' background on the state courts Web site. Reinars' and Mezera's divorce was listed on the Web site but Jones apparently didn't see the restraining order against Reinars.

Reinars wanted Mezera to pay some of his debts and, after obtaining her address, made a threatening call to her and sent her a note by taxi, according to court documents.

Mezera and her husband, David Deicher, sued and were awarded $25,000. But their attorney Richard Burnham appealed, claiming the amount was "quite small" compared to the requested $1 million.

Last September, a federal appeals court concluded that District Judge John Shabaz erred in not giving jurors a document they requested and ordered a new trial on damages and attorneys' fees. Attorneys for Community Insurance Corp., the city's insurer, appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to take the case in March.

The settlement was filed with the court as a confidential agreement. The financial terms were obtained this week after an open records request was filed with the city.

Mark Hazelbaker, who represented Evansville and Community Insurance in the case, said the $337,500 settlement was less than the $400,000 offered before trial.

District Judge Barbara Crabb will determine attorney fees for Burnham, Betty Eberle and Sarah Siskind, who charge $325, $300 and $480 an hour, respectively. Burnham has filed a request for $487,322 in attorney fees, which Hazelbaker said he will contest.

Police Chief Scott McElroy, who had reprimanded Jones for disclosing Mezera's address, said Jones is still employed by the department. McElroy said the department developed a new record release manual since the case was filed.

Burnham said he was pleased with the settlement and felt that the case helped illuminate an area of law not well understood by law enforcement. Since the trial, Hazelbaker has written an article for an insurance publication, and the Wisconsin Department of Justice has used the case to instruct law enforcement regarding the release of driver's information.