The City of Nelson has been ordered to pay a woman detained by police $500 in damages.
Charity Mason sued the City, along with then Police Chief Dan Maluta and Constable Drew Turner.
In 2009 she was in a vehicle that turner pulled over for a traffic violation.
He said he smelled marijuana and searched the truck and its three occupants but found no drugs.
Mason filed suit claiming she was unlawfully detained and searched and sexually assaulted.
Judge Peter Voith dismissed most of the case which was heard last fall.
But he agreed she wasn’t properly advised of her rights.
He said the conduct wasn’t malicious but serious enough to require a $500 award to deter future breaches.
