A Man Walks into a Bar, Steps Outside to Sh*t and…

September 16th, 2014. By LucyC

Well, the name of our column is “Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See”, so this one’s fitting…

And this one’s dirty. Shitty, actually. Literally. A former Merrill Lynch financial adviser who decided to relieve himself in the woods behind a bar has filed a lawsuit against the city of Mount Dora and the police officer who cited him for disorderly conduct in 2010. Elvan Moore is alleging his civil rights were violated through the enforcement of a “careless and reckless policy” and that the charges resulted in him losing his job at ML.

OK—my first question—what was the police officer doing in the woods? Answer—he followed Moore out the bar. Ok that’s just weird. According to the officer, he followed Moore out the bar and into woods where he saw him squatting and next to a broken-down car and noted the strong odor of feces. Really—didn’t the cop have anything better to do? Mount Dora’s finest?

Moore is alleging that the charges are bogus, as he was vomiting not defecating (does the exit point really make a difference?) as a result of some vitamins he had taken. Apparently he was also prepared—as the police officer saw that Moore had paper napkins with him.

Now, disorderly conduct, it turns out, is a vague beast. Florida’s disorderly conduct statute includes acts that “corrupt the public morals or outrage the sense of public decency, or affect the peace and quiet of persons who may witness them.” You could pretty much write your own ticket based on that description. Interestingly, the charges were eventually dropped… BUT—they are a matter of public record and that is why Moore has his knickers in a knot.

Moore’s lawsuit claims the officer’s allegations caused him to lose his job at ML, and suffer damages to his reputation, as well as embarrassment and humiliation. Hard to avoid, I would think. And he does have legal recourse through a statute commonly used for police brutality.

The city of Mount Dora has not come clean on how it plans to handle the lawsuit. Moore is seeking over $15,000 in damages.

Tags: Crazy sh*t lawyers see, Disorderly Conduct, Mount Dora Florida

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