Four years ago, a 65-year-old man was paralyzed from the neck down after being tased by an Atlanta police officer. During the encounter, he fell and fractured his neck.
Now, a federal jury has awarded him $100 million, ruling that the officer involved used excessive force.
The verdict came about Friday afternoon and was the ending result of a resolving civil lawsuit filed on behalf of the now 69-year-old Jerry Blasingame.
Blasingame’s conservator, Keith Edwards, sued the city of Atlanta and the acting officer, Jon Grubbs, for both the cost of his past and future medical bills, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Attorneys on behalf of Blasingame said the Grubbs should have known better than to use a Taser on an elderly man who was running away from him. They also claimed the officer violated police department policy and that his actions left the victim with injuries that he’ll suffer from for the rest of his life.
“We are very, very grateful to this amazing jury and so proud of the amazing work they’ve done in holding this officer accountable and getting justice for Mr. Blasingame,” attorney Ven Johnson said.
The lawsuit is one of the few civil cases that will make it to trial. Less than 1% of federal suits make it before a jury.
“While only a small percentage of lawsuits actually go to a jury trial, sometimes that is the only way they can be resolved,” civil rights attorney Craig Jones told the AJC.
On the afternoon of July 10, 2018, near Windsor Street, in downtown Atlanta, Blasingame, who was unarmed, was on the street and asking people for money when Grubbs and another officer arrived and saw the man talking with a driver, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in 2019 read.
When Grubbs exited from his APD patrol car and told Blasingame to stop, Blasingame moved out of the street to a guard rail, and the lawsuit continued. Then, Grubbs ran toward him.
“Grubbs gets out of the car and starts chasing my client — a 65-year-old man— and for what? For potentially asking people for money?” Johnson said.
At some point, the officer deployed his Taser on the victim, causing him to “fall and seriously injure himself.”
“Due to the tase and subsequent fall, Mr. Blasingame became unconscious and was bleeding profusely from his head,” the lawsuit reads. Grubbs then called for medical assistance, and Blasingame was transported to the trauma center at Grady Memorial Hospital.
“You run from the police, you get what you sow. That’s what some people think. But that’s not so,” Johnson said during his closing argument on Thursday.
The attorney said the incident had turned his client into a “prisoner in his own body,” adding that the incident left Blasingame with a severe spinal cord injury that has made him unable to use all four of his limbs.
Blasingame will now spend the remainder of his life in a residential facility requiring round-the-clock care and has accrued more than $14 million in medical bills. The estimated cost for his care in the future is anticipated to be around $1 million each year.
“Jerry Blasingame matters,” he said. “Jerry Blasingame and his suffering.”
Grubbs joined the Atlanta Police Department as a cadet in 2013 and became a full officer a year late. He has served on the force since then.
He has no sanctions in his POST records and is also listed as an officer in good standing by the state police certifying agency.
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