Lawsuit Over Protective Custodies at Gillette Stadium Shows Heads to Trial

A lawsuit aimed at the town for how guests at Gillette Stadium are taken into protective custody.

Selectman Jim DeVellis confirmed at Tuesday’s selectmen meeting that the trial for the Weldner-Dutton case started this week in federal court in Boston.

The plaintiffs in the trial claim that they were unfairly detained under the state’s protective custody law while attending events at Gillette Stadium. Timothy Dutton and Paul Weldner, claim police officers under the command of Foxborough Police Chief Ed O’Leary, violated their constitutional rights when they were placed in protective custody prior to a 2012 Bruce Springsteen show at the stadium.

Dutton announced his intent to filed a lawsuit shortly after the show in a post-concert article on Foxborough Patch.

State law allows police to place people into protective custody who are deemed to be incapacitated , are a danger to themselves or others, and has no one to take care of them.

Officials initially believed that the lawsuit could become a class action with thousands of plaintiffs, but the Sun Chronicle reports that there are only three plaintiffs.