Josh Brewer said the last four years have been far from easy.
“They put my family, my kids through hell for the last four years. It’s been tough to find a job, can’t find a job with drug convictions,” said Brewer.
Those drug convictions are for having too much medical marijuana. They were overturned by the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Now a civil lawsuit, filed by Brewer’s attorney on March 28th, alleges Medford Police and other city officials, conspired, acted intentionally and/or with reckless disregard and deliberate indifference when it came to his civil rights, and went on false information to convict him.
“They messed up, they broke the law, now they’re going to have to pay the consequences,” said Brewer.
The Road to a Civil Suit
Brewer said back in 2009, Medford police took his gun, and arrested him for firing a shot within city limits. He said he was asleep at the time and never fired the shot. His neighbors could not pinpoint where the gunshot had come from.
He said he asked for a gun powder residue test to prove he had not shot off the firearm, but police did not go through with the test.
In addition, police said he had too much medical marijuana.
“I was six plants under the legal limit,” said Brewer.
He said he was then taken to jail, where he spent 17 days. When he was released on bail, he tried to inform officials there was a mistake. He called Mayor Gary Wheeler and other city officials.
“Mayor Wheeler hung up the phone on me,” said Brewer.
Instead of help, he received a letter from the police department saying he could be arrested if he continued calling the Mayor and other city officials.
“From this point forward you are forbidden from having contact either in person or by telephone with any department of the City of Medford,” Brewer read aloud.
According to Brewer, he also filed a complaint. However, he said one of the officers present when he was originally arrested was the person assigned to investigate his complaint.
The case worked its way through the court system and Brewer said despite proving he did not violate medical marijuana laws, he was still convicted.
“He was in compliance in every way and yet he was arrested,” said Carl Worden with the Southern Oregon Militia.
Then, Brewer and his supporters filed an appeal with the Attorney General’s office.
“They wrote what was called a confession of error,” began Worden.
“The appellate judge, when he got this confession of error in, indicating that this young man never should have been arrested, never should have been convicted, he vacated Josh Brewer’s convictions with simply a signature.”
With one signature, Brewer’s slate was wiped clean. All the drug charges were vacated by the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Finding Work, Near Impossible
However, despite the reversal, Brewer said when potential employers do background checks on him, his wrongful convictions still turn up.
“I was building jet brakes before all this happened,” started Brewer who is currently unemployed.
“[I] was laid off. [Then] once all this happened, lost my unemployment due to being incarcerated then lost my chance at getting my job back because of felony convictions.”
False Statement Allegations Fly
In the civil suit, Brewer and his supporters are also accusing a Medford officer of making up a witness who allegedly saw Brewer shoot the gun out his back window.
“No such witness appeared to prosecute him,” said Worden as he thought back on when he attended Brewer’s trial.
The Mayor said he can’t comment on the lawsuit and a call to the City Attorney’s office was not returned.
“You can allege a lot of things. That’s an allegation that’s a civil suit that’s pending and I wouldn’t comment on a civil suit that’s pending,” said Medford Police Chief Tim George, one of the individuals named in the suit.
Meantime, Brewer said city employees need to be held accountable.
“They’re going to be doing what they’re doing until somebody stands up and says enough is enough.”
It’s expected the civil suit will end up in court in about a year.
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