Mental Health Advocates Oppose City's Move to Recover
Litigation Expenses from Murder Victim's Family
(Overland Park, KS) - The nation's leading legal advocate for the rights
of people with mental illnesses today sought to block the City of Overland
Park's attempt to recover litigation expenses from the family of murder
victim Aubrey Phalp, filing an opposition to the city's petition in federal
court.
"The public should be disgusted by the city's behavior in this matter.
Aubrey Phalp was murdered in cold blood and we think the Overland Park
police could have prevented it," said Tammy Seltzer, a staff attorney
for the Washington-based Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. "Her
parents deserve justice, not a bill from the city."
The city's motion, which was filed October 4th, stems from a suit filed
by Phalp's parents after the 17-year-old Kansas woman was found murdered
in 1998. Before the murder, police had been called to investigate an assault
and subsequent threats on Aubrey's life. Apparently considering Aubrey
"unreliable" because she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder,
investigators made no arrests in connection with the incidents. A young
man who had been implicated in-but not arrested for-the earlier assault
was ultimately convicted of her murder.
"Let's be clear here: Aubrey Phalp was murdered even though the
Overland Park police knew that her life had been threatened," continued
Seltzer. "Aubrey's parents think that those threats were ignored
because Aubrey had a mental illness and the police didn't believe her.
What parent wouldn't have pursued legal action under those circumstances?"
The family's legal team was set to go to trial in September, but the
case took an unexpected turn. The presiding judge dismissed the federal
claims, but left Aubrey's family free to pursue action against Overland
Park in state court. Now the city wants Aubrey's parents to pay up, seeking
more than $16,000 in litigation expenses from her parents, Randy Phalp
and Arona Ash, the plaintiffs in the case.
Aubrey's parents were stunned by the city's move. "We didn't bring
this suit to get rich. We brought this suit because we wanted to change
the way the Overland Park Police Department deals with people with mental
illnesses," said Ash. "Our daughter might be alive today had
the police taken Aubrey more seriously."
Phalp has recently been laid off and Ash has been informed that there
is a strong possibility that her job will be eliminated on January 1.
The Bazelon Center was joined by attorneys from Swidler Berlin Shereff
Friedman, the Washington, D.C.-based law firm representing the family,
in condemning the city's actions in the matter. "It's unreasonable
that the city should play the victim in this case," said Brian Friel,
an attorney for the law firm. "By taking this action, the city is
discouraging the honest pursuit of justice."
The family attempted to contact Mayor Ed Eilert to ask the city to drop
its petition, but the mayor has not returned calls from the family and
the city's attorneys have instructed the family to "cease" their
attempts to contact city officials concerning the matter. "This has
been a long and difficult time for Aubrey's mother and me, but this is
too much," concluded Phalp. "It feels like they're dancing on
my daughter's grave."
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The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is the nation’s leading
legal advocate for people with mental disabilities. Since its founding
in 1972, the nonprofit organization’s precedent-setting litigation
and public-policy advocacy has successfully challenged many barriers and
expanded access to public schools, workplaces, housing and many other
opportunities for community life.
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