A gay Central Pennsylvania man has filed a federal lawsuit against two police officers, whom he has accused of assaulting him because of his sexual orientation.
In the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Brian Keener, 46, contends that what started as a routine traffic stop left him with both physical and emotional trauma.
Keener, a resident of Jacobus, a York County borough, was stopped by state police for not using his left-turn signal at about 1 a.m. Aug. 31, 2008. Keener noticed the car driving behind him shortly after he left Club XS, a gay bar in York, and said the trooper was behind him for several miles before pulling him over.
The trooper, Brian Torkar, asked Keener to take a field-sobriety test after allegedly smelling marijuana in the car.
Keener was asked to walk a straight line and said he passed the test, adding he had one beer while at the bar and did not smoke marijuana. But the trooper told him he failed and arrested him for driving under the influence.
Prior to the test, Keener said Torkar, who joined the force in 1999, asked for his license but never asked him to present his registration or insurance cards.
Torkar brought Keener to York Hospital to obtain a blood-alcohol test, but Keener, who had a previous DUI several years ago, said he was hesitant to undergo such a test and kept changing his mind.
“The girl came to take my blood and I knew I’d had marijuana a week before and I knew it stays in your system so that would have been a DUI, so I chose not to give a blood test because I didn’t want that on my record,” he said. “So [Torkar] comes in and says, ‘You know what happens if you refuse,’ and it was basically you’ll lose your license for a year and it’s three days in jail, and I thought I’d rather deal with that, so I said, ‘OK I don’t want to give a blood test.”
When Keener did eventually decide against the test, he said Torkar and trooper Sean Taylor. who has been with the state police since 1998, began attacking him.
The complaint alleges that Torkar handcuffed Keener in the phlebotomist’s room and both he and Taylor clubbed him with their nightsticks, punched and kicked him and Tasered him several times, which the complaint contends is an “egregious and unconstitutional excessive use of force.”
Center City attorney Jeffrey R. Lessin, of Jeffrey R. Lessin & Associates, P.C., who is representing Keener, said his client’s size makes the incident even more surprising.
“It’s just so hard to believe. He’s 5-foot-5, roughly 150 pounds, and there’s two police officers there,” Lessin said. “He obviously wasn’t being violent or they wouldn’t have left him alone with a phlebotomist unhandcuffed.”
Keener eventually had the bloodwork done, which the complaint states showed he was not intoxicated.
Lt. Myra Taylor of the State Police Public Information Office said she could not comment on the case, as the litigation is pending. Taylor noted, however, that an internal investigation will be conducted once the case is adjudicated.
Among the injuries Keener suffered were numerous facial fractures, nasal septal deviation, left-eye hemorrhage, sciatic-nerve injury, temporomandibular joint disorder, tinnitus and teeth damage. He’s had to undergo a hernia operation, and his left eye is permanently pressed 4 millimeters into his skull, Keener said.
Keener may need to have a root canal and said his doctor said he could have traumatic glaucoma.
Throughout the alleged attack, Keener said the pair repeatedly used homophobic slurs.
“It was bad enough to be a punching bag, but then with every punch it was ‘you faggot,’ ‘you fucking queer,’ and then they said they’d fuck me while I was in prison. You hear about hate crimes, but I never expected something like this would happen to me.”
Keener, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, said the mental trauma was even more debilitating than the physical injuries.
“It’s been almost two years and I still have nightmares. It’s getting better. But for the first several months, I was completely paranoid, just practically afraid to go outside and just had irrational fears. By far the most long-lasting effects are emotionally and mentally.”
The incident was further complicated when Keener was charged with several counts of aggravated assault and disorderly conduct, among other offenses, stemming from the incident in the hospital.
“If it wasn’t bad enough that I was almost beaten to death, then I get these papers in the mail that said that this could carry a sentence of 20 years in prison, and I almost had a nervous breakdown. It was overwhelming,” he said.
Keener chose to plead no contest — which does not amount to an admission of guilt — and was sentenced to six months in prison, but was released one month early for good behavior. Keener said he chose the plea to avoid a jury trial, as he was worried about the pervasive homophobic environment he’s seen in the region.
“I knew that I hadn’t done what I was accused of, but I knew there was a chance I could go to prison for 20 years. People generally believe cops, and I was afraid I wouldn’t get a fair trial because of religious bias,” he said. “Religion can make people not see things clearly, unfortunately. Out in this area, [being gay] is basically criminalized behavior.”
York City has a nondiscrimination law in place that is inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity, but York County, where Club XS is located, does not.
Steve Glassman, chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, said that although he was unfamiliar with the case, it sheds light on the need for statewide LGBT protections.
“It certainly is one of many examples I’ve heard of allegations by LGBT people who feel that they have been profiled for being gay and have been mishandled by the police,” Glassman said. “I think this is one of the main reasons why we need to immediately pass a hate-crimes law, as well as a nondiscrimination law, in the state legislature, to ensure that the same protections that exist for other minorities with regard to profiling and harassment are in place for LGBT people.”
Lessin said the case is still in the initial stages, and he expects the trial to begin next June.
In addition to the monetary compensation he’s seeking in the suit — in excess of $200,000 — Keener said he’s hoping the case is will attention to the consequences of institutionalized homophobia.
“Gay people don’t have rights, unfortunately. It’s terrible that it’s 2010 and it’s still like this. I’ve lived in New York, in L.A., where it’s widely accepted, and I just never thought of the possibility of something like this happening. This has not only affected my health and my emotional state, but now I have this felony on my record, which is going to affect my ability to get work, and my reputation has been tarnished all for something that’s not valid and not real.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].