IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF RIDGEWAY
ADAM STRATTON,
Plaintiff,
v.
smashcans, individually and in his official
capacity as a Major of the Ridgeway State
Police,
Defendant.
Case No. ____________________
COMPLAINT
Related: Nos. DCE-2026-0101,
RSC-CV-4876
On September 16, 2026, the Defendant, a Major of the Ridgeway State Police, arrested the
Plaintiff at the State Capitol without a warrant, for a misdemeanor, because he “was instructed by
the president of the Senate” to do it. Those are his own sworn words, and they are the whole of his
justification. This Court reviewed his affidavit the same night and found no probable cause. The
law allows an officer to make a warrantless misdemeanor arrest in one situation, when the offense
is committed in his presence. Being told to is not on the list. A judge of this Court, present in
person, told the Defendant six times to stop. He did not stop. The Plaintiff brings this action for
false imprisonment, deprivation of rights under color of law, negligence per se, and official
misconduct.
PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE
1. The Plaintiff, Adam Stratton (username AdamStratton), is the Attorney General of the State
of Ridgeway. He was arrested while appearing before the Senate in that office. He brings
this action individually, because the claims are for the restraint of his own person and the
damages are his own.
2. The Defendant, smashcans, is an officer of the Ridgeway State Police holding the rank of
Major. He is sued individually on Counts I through IV. On Count V he is named in his
official capacity, as 7 R. Stat. § 121.404(b) directs, with damages payable in his individual
capacity.
3. The Superior Court is “a court of law and equity” with original jurisdiction over “[a]ll civil
claims.” 3 R. Stat. §§ 131.001, 131.004(c); Const. art. V, § IV. The action accrued at the
State Capitol, and venue lies there. 7 R. Stat. § 131.001. Counts I through IV run against the
Defendant individually, and Count V is authorized against a public servant by 7 R. Stat.
§ 121.404, so sovereign immunity does not apply. 7 R. Stat. § 122.002.
4. The Attorney General holds oversight and investigative authority that reaches the State
Police. The Plaintiff states for the record that he has withdrawn from any official role in any
matter concerning the Defendant or the events of September 16, 2026; that he will not use
any power of his office to order, direct, or influence any investigation, prosecution, or
personnel action concerning the Defendant; and that he will give the Solicitor General no
direction if that office appears in this case. Whatever he seeks concerning the Defendant, he
seeks from this Court as a private litigant.
5. The mediation step in 2 R. Stat. § 123.001 cannot be performed. That section makes the
Attorney General the initial arbitrator of civil claims against agents of the State. The
Plaintiff cannot arbitrate his own claim and will not purport to, and passing the duty to his
own deputy under 2 R. Stat. § 121.107 cures nothing. If the Court concludes that a neutral
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arbitrator must first be designated, the Plaintiff asks that the Court designate one and hold
this action in the meantime, not dismiss it. Const. art. I, § I.
FACTS
6. On September 16, 2026, the Senate was in session at the State Capitol. The Plaintiff
appeared before it as Attorney General, and Senators questioned him about acts taken in
that office. In the course of that questioning, a motion was put “to hold adamstratton in
contempt of the Senate for obstruction of proceedings,” over statements that were called
outlandish.
7. Five Senators were present. Two voted aye and three abstained. The Senate’s rules require
a two-thirds vote to hold a person in contempt and fix two-thirds at five Senators. Standing
Rules of the Ridgeway State Senate (3d ed.) (“Senate Rules”), Rules V(3), VII(2). The
President of the Senate treated the motion as carried. A motion to reconsider failed, two to
three.
8. No written order of the Senate was issued. No warrant for the Plaintiff’s arrest was issued
by the Senate or by any court. The Senate did not direct its Sergeant-at-Arms to take the
Plaintiff into custody.
9. The President of the Senate instructed the Defendant to take the Plaintiff into custody.
10. The Defendant was never appointed Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, or Deputy Sergeant-
at-Arms, by any formal procedure of the Senate, and no such appointment appears in its
records. He acted, and identified himself in his sworn statement, as a trooper of the
Ridgeway State Police.
11. The Defendant arrested the Plaintiff at the Capitol, booked him in the Capitol booking
room, and recorded a charge of Contempt of Senate under R.C.C. § 1.06. The arrest was
docketed as No. DCE-2026-0101, which records it at 9:41 PM in the docket’s time zone.
The other times in this complaint are Pacific time. The Defendant knew the Plaintiff to be
the Attorney General.
12. The Defendant’s sworn statement of probable cause reads in full: “On 09/16/2026, I was
instructed by the president of the Senate to take this subject into custody for obstructing the
Senate proceedings. I booked the suspect at the booking room within the cap.” It does not
say that the Defendant saw the Plaintiff do anything. It describes no act by the Plaintiff. It
identifies no order and no warrant.
13. At or around 7:40 PM, Senior Judge Arthur_Chen of this Court granted the Plaintiff’s
emergency motion in No. RSC-CV-4876 to stay the contempt order and all enforcement of
it, including any arrest, booking, or imprisonment. A copy of the written order is attached as
Exhibit A.
14. The Judge was present in person, and so was the Defendant. The Judge told the Defendant
to stop six times, and he warned the Defendant that if he did not stop he would be held in
contempt and a warrant would issue.
15. The Defendant did not stop. He kept the Plaintiff in custody. A warrant for the Defendant’s
arrest for contempt of court issued immediately afterward.
16. At 8:01 PM, the Court reviewed the Defendant’s sworn statement and found no probable
cause for the arrest.
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17. The Plaintiff was released at 8:06 PM. He was arrested, booked, and held in public view at
the seat of government, over the repeated orders of a judge.
WHY THE ARREST WAS UNLAWFUL
18. A law enforcement officer may arrest without a warrant for a misdemeanor only when the
person has committed it “in the presence of the officer,” or when “[a] warrant for the arrest
has been issued.” 6 R. Stat. § 131.006(a), (d). The State Police statute says the same: a
warrantless arrest is for a person who violates the law “in the presence of a state trooper.”
9 R. Stat. § 223.002. Contempt of Senate is a misdemeanor. R.C.C. § 1.06. The Defendant
had no warrant, and his sworn statement does not say that anything happened in his
presence. It says he was instructed.
19. The Defendant’s only stated ground is that someone told him to make the arrest. The
warrantless arrest statute allows an arrest on another person’s word in exactly one place:
subsection (e), which covers traffic violations relayed by a fellow officer. 6 R. Stat.
§ 131.006(e). It contains no such allowance for misdemeanors. The Legislature knew how
to authorize an arrest on someone else’s say-so, and it chose not to do it here.
20. A vote of the Senate is not a warrant, and this vote did not carry. Warrants issue on “oath or
affirmation first made, affording sufficient foundation for them.” Const. art. I, § VIII. No
written order of any kind existed for the Defendant to execute.
21. The Defendant cannot claim the authority of a Senate officer. When the Senate holds a
person in contempt, its rules let it “direct the Sergeant-at-Arms to take them into custody.”
Senate Rule V(3). The Defendant is not the Sergeant-at-Arms or his deputy. The Sergeant-
at-Arms may request the assistance of state law enforcement officers, Senate Rule II(3)(e),
but the Defendant swore that he acted on the instruction of the President of the Senate, not
at the request of the Sergeant-at-Arms. And a state officer who assists remains a state
officer, bound by 6 R. Stat. § 131.006 and 9 R. Stat. § 223.002. His own affidavit is signed
as the Ridgeway State Police.
22. The Senate’s rules also required that the probable cause court be told “whether a vote was
held” and which Members voted in favor. Senate Rule V(3)(b). The Defendant’s affidavit
told the Court neither. Had it complied, it would have told the Court that two Senators voted
aye.
23. The conduct described to the Defendant was not an offense in any event. R.C.C. § 1.06
punishes whoever “obstructs” a session. It does not reach statements, which the Legislature
addressed only in the contempt of court section. R.C.C. § 1.08.
24. This Court has already found that the Defendant’s affidavit did not establish probable
cause.
COUNT I — FALSE IMPRISONMENT (7 R. Stat. § 121.003)
25. The Plaintiff repeats the paragraphs above. The Defendant, “without legal authority or
justification,” restrained the Plaintiff’s movement by arresting him, booking him, and
holding him. 7 R. Stat. § 121.003.
COUNT II — DEPRIVATION OF RIGHTS UNDER COLOR OF LAW (7 R. Stat.
§ 121.403)
26. The Plaintiff repeats the paragraphs above. Acting under color of his office and of R.C.C.
§ 1.06, the Defendant seized the Plaintiff without a warrant and without probable cause,
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and deprived him of his liberty other than “by the laws of the land.” Const. art. I, §§ VI,
VIII; U.S. Const. amends. IV, XIV. He is liable “in an action at law, suit in equity, or other
proper proceeding for redress.” 7 R. Stat. § 121.403.
COUNT III — NEGLIGENCE PER SE (7 R. Stat. § 121.302)
27. The Plaintiff repeats the paragraphs above. 6 R. Stat. § 131.006 prescribes when an officer
may arrest without a warrant. It is intended to prevent the injury the Plaintiff suffered,
which is arrest without lawful grounds. The Defendant breached it, and the breach caused
the Plaintiff’s arrest and detention. 7 R. Stat. § 121.302(a).
COUNT IV — NEGLIGENCE (7 R. Stat. § 121.301), IN THE ALTERNATIVE
28. The Plaintiff repeats the paragraphs above. An officer who takes a person into custody
owes that person a duty to confirm that lawful grounds for the arrest exist. The Defendant
asked for no order, no warrant, and no facts, and swore to none. The Plaintiff was injured as
a result. 7 R. Stat. § 121.301.
COUNT V — OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT (7 R. Stat. § 121.404)
29. The Plaintiff repeats the paragraphs above. The Defendant is a public servant and a Major,
a senior command officer of the State Police. Arresting and holding the Plaintiff after a
judge stayed the contempt order and ordered him, in person, to stop was an act relating to
his office and an unauthorized exercise of his official functions. He knew it was
unauthorized. A judge told him so to his face six times and warned him of contempt, and he
went on. His conduct caused the Plaintiff concrete injury: the Plaintiff stayed in custody
until 8:06 PM. 7 R. Stat. § 121.404(a).
RELIEF REQUESTED
The Plaintiff respectfully requests that the Court enter judgment:
(a) declaring that the arrest of September 16, 2026, was made without legal authority;
(b) on Count I, awarding punitive damages in an amount the Court determines, not to exceed
$6,000.00, 7 R. Stat. § 121.003;
(c) on Count II, awarding damages in an amount the Court determines, 7 R. Stat. § 121.403;
(d) on Count III, or in the alternative Count IV, awarding compensatory damages as proven,
including for injury to the Plaintiff’s standing caused by a public arrest, and punitive
damages in an amount the Court determines, not to exceed $7,500.00 on Count III or
$5,000.00 on Count IV, 7 R. Stat. §§ 121.301, 121.302;
(e) on Count V, awarding compensatory damages as proven and punitive damages in an
amount the Court determines, not to exceed $10,000.00, payable by the Defendant in his
individual capacity, and restraining the Defendant from arresting any person without a
warrant for a misdemeanor not committed in his presence, 7 R. Stat. § 121.404;
(f) directing the Clerk to transmit the Court’s findings to the Colonel of the Ridgeway State
Police, at whose direction the agency operates, 9 R. Stat. § 223.001, so that the Defendant’s
fitness to remain an officer of the State Police may be determined in the manner 4 R. Stat.
§§ 124.304 and 124.305 provide;
(g) awarding the Plaintiff his court costs, 7 R. Stat. § 132.203; and
(h) granting such further relief as the Court deems just and proper.
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Respectfully submitted this 16th day of September, 2026.
/s/ Adam Stratton
ADAM STRATTON
Plaintiff, in his personal capacity
REQUEST FOR SERVICE
The Plaintiff requests that the Clerk issue a summons directed to the Sheriff for service of
this complaint upon the Defendant, smashcans, and that a copy be served upon the Solicitor
General. 7 R. Stat. §§ 131.101, 131.102, 131.103, 131.106. Because the Plaintiff holds the office
of Attorney General, any service upon the State should be made on the Solicitor General and not on
him.
/s/ Adam Stratton
ADAM STRATTON
Plaintiff
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