<div dir="ltr"><br clear="all">
<div class="gmail-article-title"><h1 class="gmail-headline entry-title">SF woman settles lawsuit for 2014 arrest after police deny her a translator</h1>
<p class="gmail-byline">By <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/author/bob-egelko/">Bob Egelko</a></p>
<h5 class="gmail-timestamp" title="2018-03-08T17:52:16Z">
Updated 5:52 pm, Thursday, March 8, 2018
</h5>
</div>
<div class="gmail-article-share">
<div class="gmail-social-links">
<ul class="gmail-right">
<li class="gmail-socialIcon gmail-print">
<a class="gmail-hdn-analytics">
<span class="gmail-icon"></span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="gmail-socialIcon gmail-comments">
<a class="gmail-hdn-analytics" href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articleComments/SF-woman-settles-lawsuit-for-2014-arrest-after-12739452.php">
<span class="gmail-icon"></span>
</a>
<div class="gmail-viafoura">
<span class="gmail-vf-counter gmail-vf-widget">5</span>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul class="gmail-left">
<li class="gmail-socialIcon email">
<a class="gmail-hdn-analytics" href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-woman-settles-lawsuit-for-2014-arrest-after-12739452.php">
<span class="gmail-icon"></span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="gmail-socialIcon gmail-facebook">
<a class="gmail-hdn-analytics" href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-woman-settles-lawsuit-for-2014-arrest-after-12739452.php">
<span class="gmail-icon"></span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="gmail-socialIcon gmail-twitter">
<a class="gmail-hdn-analytics" href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-woman-settles-lawsuit-for-2014-arrest-after-12739452.php">
<span class="gmail-icon"></span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="gmail-socialIcon gmail-pinterest">
<a class="gmail-hdn-analytics" href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-woman-settles-lawsuit-for-2014-arrest-after-12739452.php">
<span class="gmail-icon"></span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="gmail-socialIcon gmail-reddit">
<a class="gmail-hdn-analytics" href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-woman-settles-lawsuit-for-2014-arrest-after-12739452.php">
<span class="gmail-icon"></span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="gmail-socialIcon gmail-google">
<a class="gmail-hdn-analytics" href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-woman-settles-lawsuit-for-2014-arrest-after-12739452.php">
<span class="gmail-icon"></span>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-article-body">
<div class="gmail-asset_gallery">
<div class="gmail-hst-resgallery-container gmail-non-grid gmail-three-wide">
<div class="gmail-hst-resgallery-wedge">
<ul class="gmail-hst-resgallery gmail-non-grid">
<li class="gmail-hst-resgalleryitem">
<div class="gmail-img-wrap gmail-landscape">
<div class="gmail-nav gmail-left gmail-clearfix">
<a href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-woman-settles-lawsuit-for-2014-arrest-after-12739452.php#prev" alt="previous">
<span class="gmail-icon gmail-action"></span>
</a>
</div>
<div class="gmail-nav gmail-right gmail-clearfix">
<a href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-woman-settles-lawsuit-for-2014-arrest-after-12739452.php#next" alt="next">
<span class="gmail-icon gmail-action"></span>
</a>
</div>
<img src="https://s.hdnux.com/photos/71/77/25/15201639/3/920x920.jpg" alt="Dora Mejia (left) and her attorney, Saira Hussain with Advancing Justice and Asian Law Caucus, arrive at a press conference Thursday in San Francisco to announce a settlement was reached with the city and its Police Department. Photo: Jessica Christian, The Chronicle" class="gmail-landscape">
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="gmail-control-panel">
<span id="gmail-gallerySection"></span>
<div class="gmail-control-panel-inner">
<div class="gmail-control-bar">
<div class="gmail-control-bar-left">
<div class="gmail-control-bar-credit">
<span class="gmail-credit"> Photo: Jessica Christian, The Chronicle
</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-control-bar-right">
<div class="gmail-play"><span class="gmail-icon gmail-action"></span></div>
<div class="gmail-overlaylink gmail-fullscreen gmail-hdn-analytics">
<span class="gmail-icon gmail-action"></span>
</div>
<div class="gmail-overlaylink gmail-thumbs gmail-hdn-analytics">
<span class="gmail-icon gmail-action"></span>
</div>
<div class="gmail-share-toggle"><span class="gmail-icon gmail-action"></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-caption-wedge"></div>
<div class="gmail-caption">
<div class="gmail-slide-count">
<div class="gmail-nav-stats">
<span class="gmail-label">Image </span><span class="gmail-item-count-current">1</span><span> of </span><span class="gmail-item-count-total">4</span>
</div>
<div class="gmail-mediasale"> <a href="http://sfgate.mycapture.com/mycapture/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Back%20to%20San%20Francisco%20Chronicle&image=https://s.hdnux.com/photos/71/77/25/15201639/3/628x471.jpg">Buy photo</a></div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-caption-truncated">Dora Mejia
(left) and her attorney, Saira Hussain with Advancing Justice and Asian
Law Caucus, arrive at a press conference Thursday in San Francisco to
announce a settlement was reached with the city and its<a class="gmail-more-caption"> ... more</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="gmail-ctpl-mediumrectangle4" class="gmail-ctpl-mediumrectangle gmail-clearfix">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-fixed-asset gmail-perfectPixel">
<div class="gmail-hdnce-e gmail-hdnce-item-33813">
<div id="gmail-hst-mediumrectangle4" class="gmail-hst-mediumrectangle">
<div id="gmail-TMP300_3" class="gmail-ad_deferrable">
<div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/36117602/hnp-sfgate.com/News_5__container__" style="border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none;border-width:0pt;display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px"></div></div>
</div>
<form class="gmail-bconic-sfc-form" id="gmail-bconic-sfc-form" method="post">
<div class="gmail-core-centerpiece-tab" id="gmail-bconicsignupmodulesfgate">
<ul>
<li class="gmail-nlSignimg"><img alt="Signup Morning Report" class="gmail-nl-img" src="https://hearst.blueconic.net/rest/dialogues/files/d4eb5c81-2404-42e8-9aa4-4b02745148a9/sfc-morning-report-new.png" title="Signup Morning Report"></li>
<li class="gmail-item gmail-first"><span class="gmail-bconic_sfgatetext1">Morning Report</span></li>
<li class="gmail-item gmail-first"><span class="gmail-bconic_sfgatetext2">Daily Newsletter</span></li>
<li class="gmail-item gmail-first"><span class="gmail-bconic_sfgatetext3">Everything you need to know to start your day</span></li>
<li class="gmail-item gmail-first">
<div class="gmail-bconic_sfgatetext5">
You agree to our
<a href="http://www.sfchronicle.com/terms_of_use/" target="_blank">Terms of Use</a>. Your information will be used as described in our
<a href="http://www.sfchronicle.com/privacy_policy/" target="_blank">Privacy Policy</a>.
</div> </li>
<li class="gmail-item gmail-first">
<div id="gmail-bconic_sfgate_signupblock">
<input id="gmail-bconic_userEmail" name="bconic_userEmail" type="email">
<span id="gmail-sfcNLformError"></span>
<div style="margin-top:8px">
</div></div></li></ul></div></form></div></div></div><div class="gmail-fixed-asset gmail-perfectPixel"><div class="gmail-hdnce-e gmail-hdnce-item-33813"><form class="gmail-bconic-sfc-form" id="gmail-bconic-sfc-form" method="post"><div class="gmail-core-centerpiece-tab" id="gmail-bconicsignupmodulesfgate"><ul><li class="gmail-item gmail-first"><div id="gmail-submit-message"></div>
<div id="error-message"></div> </li>
</ul>
</div>
</form>
</div> </div>
<p>Advocates for victims of domestic violence and police
translation services announced a $50,000 settlement Thursday for a San
Francisco woman who said she was sexually assaulted by her ex-partner,
and was then arrested by officers who wouldn’t provide her an
interpreter.</p>
<p>“I had to stand up” and “demand that language access is a
right for all of us,” Dora Mejia, 40, said through a Spanish-speaking
interpreter at a rally celebrating the resolution of her case. “Liberty
does not have a price.”</p>
<p>In her lawsuit against the city and its Police
Department, Mejia said her ex-partner attacked her in her Mission
District apartment in May 2014, and he then called police to falsely
accuse her of attacking him. When officers arrived, the ex-partner had
left.</p>
<div class="gmail-A300-placeholder gmail-collapse"></div>
<p><a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/SF-officers-violated-Spanish-speaking-woman-s-7542875.php">Mejia said the officers refused </a>to
provide her with an interpreter, told her to communicate in English the
best she could, and showed no interest when she tried to describe past
abuses by her former partner. The officers then provided an interpreter
to the ex-partner for a phone interview, listened to his account and
arrested her, leaving her three children with him, she said.</p>
<div class="gmail-asset_media gmail-asset-media">
<div class="gmail-video_automatch_header">
<hr>
<h3>Recommended Video:</h3>
</div>
<div id="gmail-player-kIdahicJ-container" class="gmail-hearst-jwplayer-container gmail-floatable gmail-player-minimize">
<div class="gmail-hearst-jwplayer-wedge">
<div class="gmail-hearst-jwplayer-position">
</div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-asset_media gmail-asset-media"><div id="gmail-player-kIdahicJ-container" class="gmail-hearst-jwplayer-container gmail-floatable gmail-player-minimize"><div class="gmail-hearst-jwplayer-wedge"><div class="gmail-hearst-jwplayer-position"><div class="gmail-hearst-jwplayer-float-title"><span class="gmail-heading">Now Playing: </span><span class="gmail-float-title">Heather Locklear Arrested on Suspicion of Domestic Violence</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-caption">
<p>Heather
Locklear Arrested on Suspicion of
Domestic Violence TMZ reported that Locklear's brother called the cops
after finding her and her boyfriend arguing. She reportedly became
combative and kicked three officers. The Hollywood Reporter said that
the actress was arrested Sunday night by the Thousand Oaks Police
Department. Capt. Dean Cook said that one count of domestic violence was
a felony and the three counts of battery of emergency personnel were
misdemeanors. Locklear, 56, was arrested in 2012 after an alleged
violent fight with ex-fiance
Jack Wagner.</p>
<span class="gmail-credit">
Media: Wibbitz
</span>
</div>
</div>
<p>Mejia spent the night in jail, but was released on bond
and freed when prosecutors declined to charge her. Meanwhile, she said,
her ex-partner had obtained a restraining order that separated her from
her children for a month.</p><div id="gmail-pmad-04" class="gmail-konafilter gmail-article03 gmail-pm-device"></div>
<div class="gmail-asset_zone gmail-zoneInlineA">
</div>
<p>She sued the officers and the city, seeking damages for
lost wages and pain and suffering, and court orders requiring compliance
with department policies. One of those policies, adopted in 2007,
requires police to identify a person’s primary language and provide
interpretive services, either through a bilingual officer in person or
by telephone.</p>
<div class="gmail-S300-placeholder gmail-collapse"></div>
<p>In a report on the case in September 2015, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/SF-officers-violated-Spanish-speaking-woman-s-7542875.php">the city’s Office of Citizen Complaints found </a>that
the officers had violated department policies on language services, had
failed to properly investigate the case and had arrested Mejia “without
cause.”</p>
<p>One of the officers spoke to Mejia’s 5-year-old daughter,
who said she had seen her mother’s partner get on top of her and tried
to kiss her before she pushed him away. Police ignored that evidence
and, by failing to provide an interpreter, prevented Mejia from
explaining her case or contradicting her ex-partner, the office’s report
said.</p>
<br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
</div>