When Sean Thomas sued three New York City police officers in 2009, claiming they had used excessive force against him, he appeared to have a strong case. After his arrest the previous year during a dispute with his girlfriend at her home in the Bronx, he was handcuffed, wrapped in a restraint blanket, strapped to a stretcher and taken to the hospital where he was involuntarily sedated, according to court documents. He was never charged with any crime.