Judge overturns $38 million award in police killing of Baltimore woman

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill



BY TAL AXELROD - 02/16/19 09:27 AM EST

A Baltimore County judge on Thursday overturned a jury decision that granted $38 million to the family of a 23-year-old woman who was killed by police in 2016.

Judge Mickey J. Norman dismissed claims from Korryn Gaines’s family against Baltimore County and the officer involved, saying he believed the “non-economic damages awarded to the various Plaintiffs are excessive and shocks the conscience.”

Wyndal Gordon, an attorney for Gaines’s family, told The Baltimore Sun his clients intend to appeal the ruling.

“It’s devastating to a certain extent, but they’re a very faithful family,” he said. “It’s not over.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/news/430336-judge-overturns-37-million-award-in-police-killing-of-baltimore-woman

[democratisphere]

1. 38 million is outrageous.

[OnlinePoker]

2. I side with the judge on this one

If someone comes out of concealment with a shotgun and starts to raise it, I'm going to shoot them. I don't care if they're mentally ill, they are still armed with a deadly weapon and acting in a threatening manner.

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. I do too

Granted, the dead woman had a history of mental illness, but the police have a right to protect themselves. The only people who have any right to any compensation are her children and spouse, if she had one. Parents should not be due any compensation. They are not financially dependent.

[barbtries]

13. as a parent who brought a wrongful death lawsuit,

please understand that after my daughter died i could not work for 3 years. that is a huge financial impact. in CA the only people who have standing in such a lawsuit are spouse, parents and children, IIRC. I went into the meeting with the lawyer thinking Bekah's friends and siblings could be part of the lawsuit.

Fortunately the law disagrees with you on this point.

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. But you weren't awarded $38 Million

I can understand pain and suffering because of any death, especially a wrongful death. But that should not entitle anyone to a lifetime of luxurious support.

[barbtries]

15. Actually you don't know how much i was awarded

or if it was anything. my point is parents suffer huge harm from the killing of their children.

all of the loved ones are victims of a homicide. the harm ripples out from the core like a rock dropped into water.

wrongful deaths are not just about the money. the money is something that can hurt the doer of the harm back. i'm not trying to weigh in on the amount of the award; that was decided by the jury.

[OhNo-Really]

24. Welcome to the heartless land. The shock could easily incapacitate family members.

You would have to have grieved to understand. When my mom and brother died, My immune system went on the attack from stress. Both arms & legs barely worked & in severe pain for 3 years.

Please revive logic & compassion. That jury heard things we haven't. They must have been horrified to reach that settlement amount.

[Honeycombe8]

23. I do, too.

She'd shot at the cops twice with a shotgun. She refused to let the boy out. She said she was prepared to die. There''s no telling what would have happened. The boy was not killed. His elbow needed surgery, though.

The amount of the award, where money was parsed out to what looks like every living relative of the boy's and woman's, including a child who wasn't even there.

I don't know all the facts, though. The Judge sent the case back to trial court. So it's not over.

[safeinOhio]

3. Disregard the Seventh Amendment?

[cstanleytech]

6. Not really as judges have alot of leeway on deciding if a juries verdict is acceptable and besides

they do still have the option to appeal the ruling to a higher court.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. So what is the point of having a jury?

[cstanleytech]

7. They are still a valuable tool like anything else however they do sometimes get it wrong

thus why we have judges.
But that aside this is not the end of the case as there is still the appeals process they can use to try and get the judges ruling reversed.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. This is a civil case

and in the past, I have seen judges REDUCE awards. But this one completely threw it out.

If anything, the lawyers on both sides should have gone with some sort of out-of-court settlement, which is what municipalities usually try to do with these types of civil cases.

[cstanleytech]

9. Well for all we know the defense offered a settlement but the plaintiffs might have refused

to budge one inch which could have pissed the judge off.
Then again that is why we have appeals as well in case a judge does get pissed off and makes such a ruling because of that.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. I think that post #10 summed up my sentiments

even after reading the OP article about the circumstances that prompted the shooting.

All this over what had apparently been serving a warrant for failure to appear in court for a traffic stop.

[MarcA]

19. Juries serve as a lightning rod and facade for the legal system. n/t

[woundedkarma]

10. Perhaps the point is...

That police murdering people and suffering no consequences all across the country is "excessive and shocks the conscience"

Until there is real pressure to stop it.. nothings else has worked, so maybe money? it will keep on happening.

Nope, didn't bother with the details of the case, jury found for the plaintiff, they knew more about it than I ever will, I'll trust in the 12 people who made that decision.

[LisaL]

16. In this particular case she was armed with a shotgun which she apparently fired twice.

So I am not surprised judge overturned the verdict, what is surprising is that the jury awarded the damages to begin with.

[MadLinguist]

17. I agree. Shocking the conscience of the public *is* the point

The taxpayer would foot the bill for a wrongful death by a public servant, the policeman who shot her.
If every such death resulted in big awards like that, cities would be forced to come up with a way of preventing these deaths. And you're right too that the facts of the case here shouldn't play a role, beyond the finding that it was a wrongful death, in how we the public, or the judge views the matter. The jury awarded the money, and that is that. There is no more confrontation of this issue than there is on the issue of gun violence. Something's gotta give

[TexasTowelie]

12. Link to the original Baltimore Sun article in the Maryland Group for those that don't like The Hill:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10562809

[ROB-ROX]

18. JUDGE PLACES LOW VALUE ON LIFE

This judge should be kicked out of office for placing a LOW value on life. This person should be a banker who can charge people high interest rates because he knows his VALUES.....WHAT A TURD

[Merlot]

21. "...shocks the conscience?" Killing the wrong person doesn't, apparently.

[oldsoftie]

22. The woman was shooting at them; no one should get a dime.

Other stories go into greater detail. When the cops arrive, you dont answer with a weapon.

But I TOTALLY am against "qualified immunity".
That allows REAL bad cops to get away with shit and the taxpayers have to pay out, not them.