Ares
24th December 2010, 02:59 PM
FLINT, Michigan — The cash-strapped city is paying $625,000 to a woman shot in 2006 by a Flint police officer.
Tracy Jefferson filed the lawsuit in federal court in 2007, alleging her constitutional rights were violated when the officer shot her as she left her home on New Year’s Eve, court records show.
The parties agreed to a settlement in October, and the payout was authorized Monday by the City Council. Flint will pay the settlement out of its self-insurance fund, not the general operating budget.
“Everyone just wants to put this case to rest,” said Jefferson’s attorney, Berkley-based Wolfgang Mueller.
H. William Reising, attorney for Officer Terry Lewis, argued Lewis’ actions were justified and reasonable under the circumstances. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton agreed, and Lewis never was charged with a crime.
Reising said Lewis didn’t do anything wrong but still felt badly for Jefferson.
On Dec. 31, 2006, Lewis, a one-man road patrol officer, responded to a report of multiple gunshots fired from a house on Pierson Road, according to court records.
The officer approached a trio of men armed with handguns and shotguns outside the house and ordered them to drop their weapons, police reported.
Soon after, Jefferson opened the side door of the house. Court records show the officer thought he saw a flash that could have been a gun muzzle.
Believing he was fired upon, Lewis fired one shot from his city-issued shotgun at Jefferson, who turned out to be unarmed, court records said.
She was shot in the arm and chest with at least five shotgun pellets from about 7 to 12 feet, records show. She suffered fractured ribs and a collapsed left lung, court records said.
“It was a split-second decision,” Reising said. “He was attempting to get control of three individuals.
“The door opening and the noise it made caused him to believe he was under fire.”
The settlement is not an admission of liability, attorneys for both parties said.
“She’s made a good recovery,” Mueller said of Jefferson, who since has moved out of Flint. “The emotional injuries I don’t think have healed or will heal. She’s still afraid of police officers.”
Lewis declined to comment on the incident Tuesday but said the call he was responding to was a very dangerous situation. He was responding to a call that men were firing shots into the air, court records show.
“In a city that is full of violence, at any point in time when you discharge a firearm, somebody can be hurt,” said Lewis, who continued to work as a patrol officer after the incident but was among 20 officers laid off Friday because of budget cuts.
Although the case has been settled, terms of the payout have not.
The city told Mueller the bulk of the $625,000 settlement could not be paid until February because of the city’s “tight cash flow situation,” City Attorney Peter Bade said.
Mueller said that was unacceptable and that he plans to file a motion asking the judge to enforce the payout.
He threatened that the settlement could be placed on the tax rolls, such as the Genesee Towers millage residents saw this month. Bade emphatically said that would never happen.
“There’s no chance,” he said. “We’re going to pay them. We’re not defaulting on it.”
Mueller said the city should have indicated before the settlement was reached that it wouldn’t be able to make the payment right away.
“Every city is broke or claims to be broke,” he said. “At the last second, they can’t say, ‘By the way, we don’t have the money. We won’t have it until February.’ ”
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/12/flint_paying_625k_to_settle_la.html
Tracy Jefferson filed the lawsuit in federal court in 2007, alleging her constitutional rights were violated when the officer shot her as she left her home on New Year’s Eve, court records show.
The parties agreed to a settlement in October, and the payout was authorized Monday by the City Council. Flint will pay the settlement out of its self-insurance fund, not the general operating budget.
“Everyone just wants to put this case to rest,” said Jefferson’s attorney, Berkley-based Wolfgang Mueller.
H. William Reising, attorney for Officer Terry Lewis, argued Lewis’ actions were justified and reasonable under the circumstances. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton agreed, and Lewis never was charged with a crime.
Reising said Lewis didn’t do anything wrong but still felt badly for Jefferson.
On Dec. 31, 2006, Lewis, a one-man road patrol officer, responded to a report of multiple gunshots fired from a house on Pierson Road, according to court records.
The officer approached a trio of men armed with handguns and shotguns outside the house and ordered them to drop their weapons, police reported.
Soon after, Jefferson opened the side door of the house. Court records show the officer thought he saw a flash that could have been a gun muzzle.
Believing he was fired upon, Lewis fired one shot from his city-issued shotgun at Jefferson, who turned out to be unarmed, court records said.
She was shot in the arm and chest with at least five shotgun pellets from about 7 to 12 feet, records show. She suffered fractured ribs and a collapsed left lung, court records said.
“It was a split-second decision,” Reising said. “He was attempting to get control of three individuals.
“The door opening and the noise it made caused him to believe he was under fire.”
The settlement is not an admission of liability, attorneys for both parties said.
“She’s made a good recovery,” Mueller said of Jefferson, who since has moved out of Flint. “The emotional injuries I don’t think have healed or will heal. She’s still afraid of police officers.”
Lewis declined to comment on the incident Tuesday but said the call he was responding to was a very dangerous situation. He was responding to a call that men were firing shots into the air, court records show.
“In a city that is full of violence, at any point in time when you discharge a firearm, somebody can be hurt,” said Lewis, who continued to work as a patrol officer after the incident but was among 20 officers laid off Friday because of budget cuts.
Although the case has been settled, terms of the payout have not.
The city told Mueller the bulk of the $625,000 settlement could not be paid until February because of the city’s “tight cash flow situation,” City Attorney Peter Bade said.
Mueller said that was unacceptable and that he plans to file a motion asking the judge to enforce the payout.
He threatened that the settlement could be placed on the tax rolls, such as the Genesee Towers millage residents saw this month. Bade emphatically said that would never happen.
“There’s no chance,” he said. “We’re going to pay them. We’re not defaulting on it.”
Mueller said the city should have indicated before the settlement was reached that it wouldn’t be able to make the payment right away.
“Every city is broke or claims to be broke,” he said. “At the last second, they can’t say, ‘By the way, we don’t have the money. We won’t have it until February.’ ”
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/12/flint_paying_625k_to_settle_la.html