Judge reduces legal fees after alleged false arrests in Utah

Nehemiah McFarlin and Atoatasi Fox. Images courtesy of Idaho State University Bengals.

BRIGHAM CITY, Utah (AP) — A northwestern Utah county must pay $135,200 in attorney fees for the alleged false arrests of two Black men after a federal judge reduced the original amount owed by Box Elder County by about $90,000.

The Standard-Examiner reported that Judge Dale Kimball’s Sept. 10 ruling stems from the December 2016 arrests of Nehemiah McFarlin and Atoa Fox, Idaho State University student-athletes.

Fox and McFarlin filed a lawsuit in 2018 claiming they were the victims of false arrest and other civil rights violations. Attorneys for the county filed motions to overturn the $225,600 claim.

Private attorney R. Blake Hamilton argued the county’s case.

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