Davis sees an injustice to Hill’s family
The ridiculous damages in monetary value as approved by a law court is appalling to 35-year-old Monique Davis. The jury wants to compensate her late fiancee’s three kids, and his mother, a paltry $4 as their deserved reward after Gregory Vaughn Hill Jr, died in a gun battle with the police. When the judgment was passed, Monique decided she had heard enough and departed the court premises with a broken heart.
She later admitted that her heart was shattered because she couldn’t believe her ears.
In 2014, her ex-boyfriend, Gregory V. Hill, a black man, was killed by bullets at the back of the door in his garage. His killer was a white man from Florida, Christopher Newman. Newman was a deputy to the sheriff, and his action was in response to a colleague who complained of noisy music. A higher jury refused to convict Newman.
The killer accused Hill of pulling out a weapon. Hill’s dead body was discovered with a gun that was not loaded inside his pocket. His mother took the case to court against the deputy sheriff, Newman, and Ken Mascara, his superior and the Sheriff of St. Lucie County. The basis of the charge was for an unjust murder. The matter was taken up for trial in May. By 24th of the same month, a court declared Newman innocent, apportioned minuscule blame to Sheriff Mascara. As for Hill, he was faulted for being drunk.
The court itemized the compensations; $1 is dedicated to the expenses that Hill’s mom incurred during his burial; then each of Hill’s three kids (between the ages of 7 to 13) will get $1 per child. John Phillips, the Hills’ family attorney, was astounded by the verdict.
Phillips is Upset
He lamented that he would have preferred to see a null figure than to inform the kids that all their hurt and travails for their dad’s demise only worth one dollar per head. That is the possible amount that the entire Hills will be compensated with in the long run.
The reason is that Mascara was only allocated 1% of laxity by the court. As a matter of fact, the $4 that serves as damages crashed to only 4 cents, says the lawyer. Notwithstanding, the court treated that fact as inconsequential when it found out that Gregory’s drunkenness rendered him 99% delinquent. As a consequence, the court immediately crossed out any compensations, according to Phillips.
He couldn’t help but ask if the litigators in the court knew what was being done, after almost ten hours in serious dialogues. The best they could result to, was such a laughable judgment? He wondered if truly the lawyers knew what they did, they don’t seem to understand that the compensation is somewhat a torture. Maybe they saw the kids’ torment as something not worthwhile, or retaliatory, he thought.
Nobody among the litigators has commented on the case in public, and no law demands for them to defend their judgment.
The incidence and death
Newman, in the company of his colleague and deputy, Edward Lopez, took action as a reaction to Hill’s apartment in Fort Pierce, on the 14th of January 2014. A concerned neighbor living across the place called the police to lament on noisy music, as reported by the police. Deputies Newman and Lopez knocked on Hill’s door to the garage. Hill who was 30 years old at that time, was on a disability-based break from one storehouse that belonged to Coca-Cola. He opened the door, but after setting his eyes on the police, he attempted to shut the door.
In the process, say the police, he brought out a firearm. Newman shot at him, bullets from his gun shattered the door. His corpse was on the floor inside the garage with a gun not loaded inside his rear pocket.
However, Phillips disclaimed the police’s account of Hill pulling out a gun to harm the law agents. He asked, before Hill’s death, how come the same gun was discovered behind his rear pocket?
He has started to prepare another lawsuit, because of what can be seen as inconsistencies in what the police said. Using the deceased’s weapon as proof in the case was unacceptable. Investigators also revealed that the victim was on trial because of a drug offense when the incidence occurred.
Mascara made a public statement when the judgment was passed. He said his agency was satisfied to witness the tough and catastrophic incident coming to an end. Concerning Newman, the sheriff said the officer found himself in an extremely tough position. Naturally, as a trained policeman, went on Mascara, he did what was most appropriate in that dangerous circumstances.
Since Hill died, Davis has to cater for his three kids. All Monique wants is for the cops to acknowledge their fault in the incidence. She believes that the officers weren’t patient enough, and they should change their mode of operations in such cases. Nonetheless, giving up on the case is not in her plans.
