Town prevails in suit filed after lawyer’s arrest

PROVIDENCE – An East Providence lawyer who is challenging Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the November election was recently dealt a blow in his lawsuit against the Town of Barrington stemming from a fight at a youth football game.

A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith’s finding that Barrington police officers had probable cause to arrest John E. Deaton after an altercation at a Pop Warner football game in 2017.

Deaton did not immediately respond to a request for comment placed to his East Providence law firm.

Deaton, a retired U.S. Marine and federal prosecutor, sued Barrington and its police department in 2020, accusing officers of violating his rights, conspiracy, false imprisonment, invading his privacy and malicious prosecution over his Sept. 24, 2017, arrest after a confrontation with his partner’s ex-husband.

Deaton alleged that the ex, Ronald Warner, aggressively touched his back and tried to provoke him. He asserted that due to his “unlawful” arrest, he lost more than $3 million in business, incurred legal fees and suffered irreparable harm to his reputation.

According to the suit, Deaton and his girlfriend Kristiana Warner were attending her then-8-year-old son’s football game at Barrington High School. Her ex-husband, Warner and his girlfriend, Ashley Maryyanek, also attended.

Deaton accused Ronald Warner of whispering to the boy that his mother was taking all his money for child support. A confrontation started when Deaton tried to walk away, according to the suit.

Warner then told Officer Wyrostek that Deaton had taunted, threatened, insulted and assaulted him by grabbing his throat, according to the suit. A police report noted that his neck did not “appear red, swollen, or show finger marks.”

Wyrostek handcuffed and arrested him in front of the children “without proof of an assault or choking,” and without taking witness statements, including one from Kristiana Warner, he alleged.

The officer refused to accept his statements that he would never jeopardize his law license by choking someone in front of children and hundreds of witnesses, and that it was Warner who had tried to goad him into a fight, Deaton said.

Deaton was charged with simple assault, battery and disorderly conduct. The charges against Deaton were later dismissed.

Smith ruled that Barrington officers did have probable cause to place Deaton under arrest and dismissed most of his claims, referring several back to state court.

Deaton appealed, arguing that the court improperly found that probable cause existed to place him under arrest and that officers should have taken possible defenses into consideration.

“[We] have held that a police officer is not required to further ‘investigate potential defenses or resolve conflicting accounts prior to making an arrest,’ ” the appeals panel wrote.

“Therefore, Deaton’s arguments as to conflicting accounts, the past relationship, lack of apparent injuries and lack of witness statements fails to materially alter the probable cause analysis,” the appeals court continued.

Deaton, who specializes in asbestos litigation, has made national headlines since announcing in February that he was challenging Warren. A cryptocurrency enthusiast, he put his Rumstick Road house in Barrington on the market for $2.5 million and moved to Swansea, Massachusetts.

A Republican who grew up outside Detroit as one of six children raised by a single mother, Deaton is the father of three. He earned his law degree from the New England School of Law in 1992, according to his campaign website.

“I am running for U.S. Senate to continue my life’s mission to shake things up for the people who need it most,” Deaton said in a campaign video.

His motto? “No fear and never give up.”