Jury rules in favor of defendants in El Palacio civil suit

MEDFORD, Ore. – A jury in Medford shared their verdict in the nearly $12 million civil suit against the city of Klamath Falls. NBC5 has been following this federal suit by the owners of the popular Klamath Falls bar and lounge El Palacio.

Today the jury ruled against the restaurant owners who claimed they were discriminated against and targeted by Klamath Falls police after former police chief David Hensley made an unfavorable recommendation to the OLCC ultimately leading to the suspension of their liquor license.

Defense attorney, Kenneth Montoya said, “Well we were very confident that we would prevail simply from the fact that our folks didn’t do anything wrong. It just was a long time coming, so we’re very very pleased.”

Jury deliberation took just under two hours. The individual defendants nor the city of Klamath Falls was proven to have violated the Cisneros’s equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment.

The plaintiff was also found unable to prove any intentional emotional distress inflicted by the defendants and no damages will be received.