Palm Beach case could show Sheriff encouraged officers to use Excessive Force

[Mani]

There is a lot of fail in this story, and I want to learn more about what's going on.


Some Boca Cops beat the fuck out of a guy trying to help people in a bad traffic accident. The guy had a nice 6 figure job and was a US Marshall?

Now I'm reading in FL or Palm Beach county has a 200,000 cap on all cases? Meaning when a cop beats the fuck out of a bunch of people and the PD loses the case and they have to pay millions of dollars, the 200K legal cap kicks in and the guy who got fucked up only collects 200K? WTF law is this???? Just another reason so show FL is a pure shit hole?

Yet this former Marshall seems to think he's got proof the Sheriff created a bunch of roided cops that he allowed to beat the fuck out of people on a regular basis, and in that particular circumstance the 200K cap is waived....


There is a lot of shit going on here but the article doesn't have enough meat to it, it seems to be just scratching the surface. Also I never heard of this law. This law pretty much creates a situation where no one gets hurt, not the PD, not the county, NO ONE when people sue and win for millions of dollars and get thrown the measly 200K which probably won't even cover medical bills or lawyer costs. It makes a no win situation for the person who was abused by a government enforcer.

http://postoncourts.blog.palmbeachp...millions-in-excessive-force-case-judge-rules/

In what may be a first in Palm Beach County, a federal judge has cleared the way for a jury to decide if Sheriff Ric Bradshaw created an atmosphere within the agency that encouraged deputies to use excessive force.

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks on Tuesday said a former U.S. marshal had provided sufficient evidence that Bradshaw failed to rein in deputies. The former marshal, Shawn Conboy, last year sued the agency and three deputies, claiming they threw him against the hood of a car and shot him twice with a stun gun after he stopped to help victims of a 2013 fatal car crash west of Boca Raton.

Middlebrooks’ decision means that taxpayers could be forced to pay millions if a jury decides deputies Seth Perrin, Ronald Cercy and Robert Stephan violated Conboy’s constitutional rights and Bradshaw contributed to it by failing to properly train officers and not disciplining those who used excessive force.

Attorney Stuart Kaplan, who represents Conboy in what he described as a “seven-figure” lawsuit that is expected to go to trial later this month, summed up the decision this way: “The institution is on the hook.”

In other recent cases, federal judges have allowed claims of excessive force against individual deputies to go to trial but tossed out claims that Bradshaw was to blame. That has meant that damages are capped at $200,000 regardless of how much a jury award. Under state law that is the most governments can be forced to pay for wrongdoing.

For instance, while a federal jury in February found that Deputy Adams Lin violated Dontrell Stephens’ constitutional rights and ordered Lin and the agency to pay $22.4 million in damages, the most the paralyzed 22-year-old West Palm Beach man can collect is $200,000. To get more, he must ask the traditionally tight-fisted Florida Legislature to pass a bill, lifting the cap.

However, if a jury finds Bradshaw, as head of the agency, created an atmosphere where such violations were allowed, the caps don’t apply. That means if a jury holds Bradshaw responsible and awards Conboy millions in damages, the agency would be forced to pay the entire amount.

In his seven-page ruling, Middlebrooks acknowledged that other federal judges have refused to hold law enforcement agencies responsible for civil rights violations.

But, he said, Conboy had provided sufficient evidence for a jury to consider that Bradshaw, through his actions, created an atmosphere that tolerated the use of excessive force.

Sheriff’s officials weren’t immediately available for comment about the ruling. Deputies claim they were forced to subdue Conboy when he became belligerent.

Kaplan said Conboy’s life was turned upside down by the encounter. In addition to his injuries, Conboy was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, attempting to deprive an officer of protection or communication, corruption by threat against a public official and disorderly intoxication. The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office didn’t pursue the charges.

Still, Kaplan said, Conboy, 56, lost his “six-figure” job as a security manager with Florida Power & Light. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said. All because he tried to help strangers who were horribly injured in a traffic accident.

“He did what you would want every person to do,” he said.