Huskins and Quinn’s claim against Vallejo says that instead of helping to solve her kidnapping, according to People, the cops “destroyed their reputations through an outrageous, completely unprofessional, and wholly unfounded claim of disparagement”.
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She was held hostage in a small room and forced to wear blacked-out swim goggles, the couple’s attorneys said.
Police said there was no evidence at the time to substantiate their claims.
The Alameda County Superior Court hearing in Hayward was delayed for a short while as Matthew Muller felt woozy, but his attorney Tom Johnson said he ended up pleading no contest, essentially a guilty plea, to four counts of battery, robbery and assault.
Police interrogated Quinn for 18 hours and took his clothing and a blood sample, the couple’s attorney said.
This meant police missed an opportunity to trace the calls to a kidnapper, Wagstaffe said. Echoing terms used from the March 25 press conference, Bidou wrote to the couple that it has become clear that the kidnapping “was not a hoax or orchestrated event and that VPD conclusions were incorrect”.
The kidnapping was, admittedly, freakish from the start, with a strangely low ransom demand and the victim, Huskins, turning up unharmed two days later at her parent’s house in Southern California. As the Chron adds, Huskins’ boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, will also be a party to the suit.
Law firm Kerr and Wagstaffe has announced that its attorneys intend to file the claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, against Vallejo on Thursday.
Quinn also is seeking damages for unlawful arrest and false imprisonment by Vallejo police.
Muller later sent the San Francisco Chronicle anonymous emails describing the kidnapping, as well as a series of crimes committed throughout the Bay Area, according to a sworn unsealed federal affidavit.
Vallejo police missed or “intentionally ignored” evidence that “could have kept Denise from further harm”, the claim says.
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“We apologize for and regret comments made by representatives of the Vallejo Police Department during the initial kidnapping investigation”, Bidou wrote. “While these comments were based on our findings at the time, they proved to be unnecessarily harsh and offensive”.
