A jury Friday awarded $135,000 to a woman who was caught skinny dipping by an officer who handcuffed her and hauled her naked to a police station nearly a mile away.
"It's all over now. I don't have to be mad anymore," said Roxanne Murasso.Jurors waited on the sidewalk and hugged and kissed Murasso, a 40-year-old tailor. They deliberated three hours before deciding in her favor.
Murasso and a male friend shed their clothes at Madeira Beach for a moonlight swim in the Gulf of Mexico during the early hours of June 21, 1990.
They initially ignored calls to come out of the water when discovered by an officer. A backup officer, Lt. Matthew McShane, arrived and took over.
Murasso tearfully testified that McShane humiliated her by refusing to return her clothes, parading her around nude, handcuffing her and taking her 16 blocks in the buff to the police station.
"As I reached for my clothing, Lt. McShane grabbed my arm, swung it around to my back, which forced me to my knees in the sand," Murasso testified Thursday. "I was crying, begging for my clothes, but I was handcuffed within seconds."
Murasso sued the city of Madeira Beach, claiming her civil rights were violated.
Murasso's attorney Marion Hale said her client ran up $20,000 in medical, psychological and legal bills and lost wages as a result of the 30-minute ordeal.
McShane resigned at the insistence of the city manager.
Murasso was charged with indecent exposure, but the charge was dropped.