After some delay, it appears that the case of Eber Devine v. the University of Pennsylvania will finally be heard in court on Sept. 20.
Devine, a Penn student on leave, is seeking $100,000 from the school on charges that the University Police falsely arrested, assaulted and battered him in March 2000.
The suit was filed in the spring of 2002 and was originally scheduled to be heard last June.
"What this is about for me," said Devine, "is ameliorating some of the injustices of the University."
Devine went on to reference the racial profiling incident involving the arrest of a black Spruce College House associate master last year as evidence that racial problems persist at Penn.
University spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman countered by saying, "The University did not violate Mr. Devine's rights in any way, and we plan on presenting that in court."
Devine alleges that after being falsely arrested and taken to police headquarters, his head was slammed into a wall by a police officer, while another officer kneed him in the side of the head. The suit includes four counts against the police officers who were allegedly involved and one count against the University, claiming that the school failed to properly train, supervise and discipline the officers.
In April 2003, a judge denied a motion by the University for summary judgment, which claimed that the case should be thrown out because Devine had exceeded the statute of limitations for the case by allowing two years to pass before filing suit.
Devine is currently representing himself, but is in the process of finding a new lawyer. Because nothing is finalized, Devine said he would rather not comment on the identity of any prospective lawyers.
Holtzman does not expect any further delays, saying that Sept. 20 "seems to be a pretty firm date, but nothing is ever certain in the courts."
