By Police1 Staff
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A jury awarded the family of a man who was fatally shot by a Florida deputy 4 dollars after they filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
On January 14, 2014, a mother picking up her son from school heard an expletive-laced song blaring from the home of 30-year-old Gregory Hill and called in a noise complaint, CNN reports. St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Deputies Christopher Newman and Edward Lopez arrived at Hill’s home and knocked on his door.
According to a lawsuit from Hill’s family, the garage door opened and “upon information and belief, Deputy Lopez indicated loudly that Hill had a gun and then the garage door closed.”
The suit said Newman fired through the closed garage door, fatally wounding Hill. The suit also alleged that the deputies, not realizing Hill was dead, called for SWAT team, who kicked in doors and cut holes in the garage door.
“Deputies shot tear gas canisters into the Hill home through many windows while severely damaging the windows and interior of the home and leaving toxic tear gas residue in the home,” the lawsuit said.
Once police got inside the garage, officers found an unloaded handgun in Hill’s back pocket. Toxicology results also showed that Hill was intoxicated, to the point he couldn’t legally drive.
After Newman was cleared in the shooting, Hill’s mother filed the wrongful death lawsuit against Newman and St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara in 2016, according to the New York Times. The family said they hoped to get compensation for their suffering, and wanted a jury to determine if any of Hill’s rights had been violated.
Following 10 hours of deliberation last week, a jury found that Newman wasn’t liable for Hill’s death. The jury ruled that Hill was 99 percent responsible for his death and that Mascara was one percent liable.
The jury awarded $1 for funeral expenses to Hill’s mother and $1 each to Hill’s three children after tallying up the damages, according to NBC News. Because Mascara was found 1 percent responsible for Hill’s death, the verdict was then reduced to 4 cents.
Because Hill was drunk at the time, the 4 cents in damages was then reduced to a total payout of zero.
Mascara applauded the jury after reaching the verdict.
“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.”
Hill’s family said they were disappointed in the jury’s ruling. The family’s lawyer said he’s preparing to file a motion for a new trial.