Portland Seeks $7,116 From Occupier Who Sued Over Pepper Spray

Above: Elizabeth “Liz” Nichols was pepper sprayed in the face Nov. 11, 2011 during an Occupy Portland protest. She unsuccessfully sued the city for excessive force. (Randy Rasmussen/The Oregonian).

Pay up.

That’s the message Portland is sending Elizabeth Evon Nichols — to the tune of $7,116.

Nichols is the Occupy Portland protester whose image became widely known for being blasted in the face with pepper spray by a Portland police officer in fall 2011. She sued the city for excessive force but lost after a four-day trial in August in U.S. District Court in Portland.

She had sought $30,000, noting the excruciating pain of pepper spray in her eyes and throat — and the ensuing nightmares, depression and worsening eczema.

But the jury sided with Portland, and so the city was entitled to recover its costs of defending itself. Deputy city attorney David Landrum said he offered to drop the city’s pursuit of costs if Nichols agreed to waive an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He called one of Nichols’ attorneys with the offer.

“I said ‘I don’t need to drag this money out of her,'” Landrum said, noting that he knows Nichols, 23, is a college student at Portland State University. At the time of her federal trial, she also was working as a janitor.

Landrum said he didn’t hear anything for weeks, so he called back and got his answer: Nichols decided to appeal. So the city sought its payback. On Oct. 18, federal judge Michael Mosman signed off on the $7,116 that Nichols now owes. That award is reflected in paperwork that the city attorney’s office filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court Wednesday. The breakdown is as follows:

$350 for fees to the clerk

$85 for fees for summons and subpoena

$5,195 for fees for transcripts used in the case

$82 for fees for witnesses

$838 for copying costs

$20 for docket fees

$546 for other costs

The city isn’t seeking the costs of paying its staff to work on the case.

More than three months have passed since Mosman approved the city’s costs, but Nichols still hasn’t paid. The papers state that interest is accruing at .35 percent a year.

Nichols’ attorney, Benjamin Haile, said Thursday that his client is appealing because she believes there were errors in the trial.

For those of you who need a refresher on Nichols’ run-in with police:

On Nov. 17, 2011, Nichols had linked arms with other Occupy Portland protesters and didn’t move down a sidewalk and away from a bank next to Pioneer Courthouse Square despite police orders to do so.

During a December 2012 noncriminal trial in which Nichols was fighting a ticket for failing to obey police orders, officer Doris Paisley said she pushed Nichols in the throat with a baton as Nichols stood her ground. Paisley said Nichols then threw her hands up in an aggressive fashion, and the officer shoved Nichols in the torso with the baton.

Officer Jeffrey McDaniel then pepper-sprayed Nichols in the face, her mouth open. The moment was captured by an Oregonian photographer in an image that circulated around the globe.

Nichols had testified she hadn’t heard any police orders to move down the sidewalk and that she didn’t lunge at Paisley with her hands. Nichols said she did open her mouth to shout at the officer just as she was blasted with spray.

A Multnomah County Circuit judge fined Nichols $260.

More: