On Tuesday, November 25, 2014 11:24:36 PM UTC-5, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
On 11/25/2014 2:08 PM, Pete C. wrote:

Oren wrote:

On Mon, 24 Nov 2014 21:08:13 -0500, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

No indictment in Fergy, it's all over.


No yet. The feds have nothing for civil rights violation, BUT the
Brown family will sue Wilson in civil court for wrongful death. Make
him a financially broke man.

Last I knew cops had civil immunity for their lawful actions on duty.
The family is sure to try to sure someone - the city, the state, the
store their thug robbed, etc. but I think they are SOL on the cop.


It's not the judgment he has to fear, it's the law suit. ANYONE can sue
ANYONE for ANYTHING. The action still must be defended and that costs
money.

Further, if punitive damages are sought, then the individual must/should
have his OWN attorney - generally not paid for by the municipality - to
defend HIS interests. If punitive damages are awarded (and never say
never) it's HIS to pay. The city or county cannot indemnify him as it
is against public policy. Punitive damages are awarded to PUNISH wrong
doing. No punishment of the individual agent if the municipality pays
them on his behalf, hence they are not allowed to.

I'm sure there will be plenty of excellent lawyers willing to defend
Brown pro bono, should it become necessary. Also, officers typically
belong to police organizations, one of the benefits of which is that they
pay for defense in such cases, etc. To be sure, I would not want to have
to go through the process of being sued, but it's one of the hazards of
the job. It would be interesting to know if the police there are
unionized and what their contract says about such cases, who pays what,
etc.