Family Of Dead Thug Shocked After Deputy Is Exonerated, Gets 2nd Brutal Surprise
source: https://goo.gl/a5D5EU
The family of a dead thug, who pointed a gun at a Florida Sheriff’s deputy, was recently shocked when a jury exonerated the law enforcement officer who shot him. Then, they were delivered a second brutal surprise they did not see coming.
According to local news source WKYC, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office in St. Lucie, Florida, will pay a whopping $4.00 to the family of Gregory Hill Jr. after a jury found that the Sheriff’s department was partially liable for the thug’s death. Undoubtedly, this was not the huge payday the family was looking for, after trying to cash in on their relative’s untimely and self-inflicted death.
On Thursday, May 24, 2018, a federal jury decided that the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s deputy who shot Hill did not use excessive force after Hill pointed a gun at his partner in 2014. The outstanding decision to award the thug’s family $4.00 was reached after 10 hours of deliberation, during which they also exonerated the deputy named Christopher Newman.
Just to be clear, the family was awarded one dollar less than 5 bucks for those who may think it’s a typo and was intended to say 4 million dollars. In my opinion, not only did the dead thug get what he deserved, but now, his family has also gotten what they deserve.
In their decision, the jury found that St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara and his department was one percent liable for Hill’s death and held the deceased man himself 99 percent liable for “the incident and his resulting injuries,” according to court documents.
Millions of law-abiding Americans can cheer for this outcome because the simple fact of the matter is that Hill should not have pointed a gun at anyone, especially a cop. That just proves that criminals are dumb and violent.
The $4.00 that the St. Lucie Sheriff’s Department has been ordered to pay will be divided between Hill’s mother and his three children, according to The New York Times. Specifically, the jury awarded $1 to Hill’s mother, Viola Bryant, for funeral expenses and $1 to each of Hill’s three children for loss of parental companionship, instruction, guidance, mental pain, and suffering.
Hill was killed on January 14, 2014, after deputies showed up to investigate following a complaint from his neighbors about loud vulgar music coming from his residence. Deputies Christopher Newman and Edward Lopez initially responded to the home and knocked on the garage door. After receiving no response, the deputies knocked again and when it opened they “saw a black male holding a handgun at his right side,” Sheriff Mascara said in a statement the day after the incident.
Mascara added, “Deputies ordered the male to drop the gun. Instead of complying…the male raised the gun toward the deputies as he simultaneously pulled the garage door closed.”
Deputy Lopez yelled, “Gun” as Hill pointed the weapon at him. This is when Deputy Newman opened fire and shot Hill dead.
Following the jury’s decision, Sheriff Mascara expressed his gratitude and praised the jury for their findings. “We are pleased to see this difficult and tragic incident come to a conclusion,” the sheriff said in a Facebook post. “Deputy Newman was placed in a very difficult situation, and like so many fellow law enforcement officers must do every day, he made the best decision he could for the safety of his partner, himself, and the public given the circumstances he faced,” he added. “We appreciate the jury’s time and understanding and wish everyone involved in this case the best as they move forward,” Sheriff Mascara concluded.
Of course, not everyone agrees or is applauding the ruling by the jury to award the family $4 in damages.
The family’s attorney, John Phillips, expressed his displeasure with the jury’s decision and said he would have rather that they found zero negligence instead of one percent. “I think they were trying to insult the case,” Phillips said after the jury reached their decision. “Why go there with the $1? That was the hurtful part. I don’t get it,” he continued. “It seems like jurors gave up.”
I completely disagree with Phillips. In my opinion, the jury ensured that justice was served and that a deputy who feared for his partner’s life was exonerated. If the family didn’t want to risk such public embarrassment, then they shouldn’t have filed a suit against the sheriff’s department.