$90,000 Settlement in Excessive Force Case and Former Sheriff Sentenced to Year in Prison
$90,000 Settlement in Excessive Force Case and Former Sheriff Sentenced to Year in Prison
In May 2013, former Jefferson County Sheriff Robert Shirley was sentenced to a year in prison for using excessive force during the December 2010 arrest of a bank robbery suspect. Following mediation, Shirley also agreed, along with several co-defendants, to settle the lawsuit filed by the suspect, Mark Haines, for $90,000.
Said Harry Waddell, Haines’ attorney: “The settlement demonstrates that in the Unites States, no one is above the law, including the police.”
Maybe so, but it is also true that Haines is now serving a sentence of 225 months (nearly 19 years) after pleading guilty to robbery.
Haines’ suit alleges that, after he was apprehended and handcuffed, prone in the back of his pick-up truck, Shirley repeatedly kicked him in the head. Three other defendants allegedly punched Haines with their fists. One of those defendants, State Trooper Joseph Bush, did not join in the settlement. See: Haines v. Shirley, U.S.D.C., (N.D. W. Va.), Case no. 3:12-cv-00051.
Additional source: John O’Brien, West Virginia Record, May 29, 2013
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Related legal case
Haines v. Shirley
| Year | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Cite | U.S.D.C., (N.D. W. Va.), Case no. 3:12-cv-00051 |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Settlement |
| Damages | 18,000 |