This week, the city attorney's office asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit stemming from a Seattle police officer's threat to beat the "Mexican piss" out of a Latino suspect by arguing that the language used was not meant to offend but simply to get the suspect to comply with an ongoing robbery investigation (a robbery, the city maintains, in which he was complicit).

"While [Martin] Monetti was ultimately not arrested or charged, there is nonetheless substantial evidence that he was, in fact, complicit in the robberies," the 25-page motion (.pdf) states.

Last June, 23-year-old Monetti filed a civil suit against Officer Shandy Cobane and another officer, accusing the two of unreasonable use of force and discrimination stemming from the April 2010 incident.

This new motion, which was filed on May 1 with the U.S. District Court of Western Washington, also argues that the lawsuit should be dismissed because "competent evidence shows that there was, in fact, no contact to [the suspect's] head in connection with the alleged 'kick.'"

The parties are scheduled to present their oral arguments before Judge Ricardo S. Martinez on May 25.