Cop kills pit bull: Court rules in favor of family

[Miakoda]

Court affirms ruling for family whose dog was shot
Posted 9/3/2009 10:40 AM ET E-mail | Save | Print



NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling in favor of a family whose dog was shot by a police officer in Cookeville during a 2003 traffic stop.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in a ruling released Thursday denied an appeal by David Bush, a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer who was found guilty of excessive force when restraining driver James Smoak.

While the family was ordered to kneel on the highway shoulder, their dog escaped from the vehicle through an open door.

Cookeville police officer Eric Hall shot the 55-pound mixed breed pit bull, which could be seen wagging its tail in the video. Hall said he thought the dog was about to attack.

A federal jury in 2008 awarded the family $9,000 in compensatory damages and $192,000 in attorney's fees. The Smoaks settled with the city of Cookeville for $77,500 in a separate lawsuit.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[Groch]

Glad for the ruling, but....

$9,000 for the injured party and $192,000 for the lawyers...seems about par for the course.

The appeals process probably ate up the $9,000 right quick.

 

[Renee750il]

In the original video you could hear the family pleading with the cop to shut the car door so their dog wouldn't get out. The sonofabitch laughed at them. You could hear it on the tape.

 

[Ridgeback Guy]

Was the cop fired?

 

[youhavenoidea]

I hope so. What a dick.

Sometimes they (cops) have to make tough decisions, and sometimes a dog can be a weapon, but it shouldn't be a free for all, nor should taking action against a dog be taken lightly.

My boyfriend had to shoot and kill a pittie on duty once. The difference is, that dog attacked his partner. And he still remembers that dog's name, to this day.

 

[Renee750il]

Was the cop fired?

Last I heard he was run out of town. I've worked on cases in that jurisdiction. People there aren't too tolerant of that kind of crap. Lots of death threats, harassing calls to his home and the police department . . . It's the kind of place where some of those people making threats are really making promises.

 

[Ridgeback Guy]

Well, at least he had some repercussions! Though, probably nothing compared to what he deserved!!!

 

[Renee750il]

Apparently his wife kicked him out and his kids wouldn't have anything to do with him either. Don't know how much of that's true, but that's the courthouse gossip.

 

[Pops2]

if you lose your job and cost your last department a lot of money in a lawsuit, it's real hard to get hired on by another department.

 

[Renee750il]

Dude may be lucky to get a job as a mall cop.

 

[LittleBigDog]

This looks like the opinion for this case. Seems to deal with the way the humans were treated by Bush rather than the issue of the dog shooting by Hall.
(That might have been addressed with the settlement with the city.)

http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/09a0628n-06.pdf

 

[Doberluv]

That SOB! Yet another story of a dickhead cop who thinks we pay his salary so he can abuse the crap out of us.

 

[Renee750il]

This looks like the opinion for this case. Seems to deal with the way the humans were treated by Bush rather than the issue of the dog shooting by Hall.
(That might have been addressed with the settlement with the city.)

http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/09a0628n-06.pdf

The issue regarding the rights of the humans would carry a much stiffer penalty.

The public judged him on the shooting of the dog -- worse than any court. Lotsa good ol' boys in this neck of the woods love their Pitdogs.

 

[bubbatd]

It doesn't bring the poor dog back , but at least it was in the family's favor . Lawyer's fee unbelievable ! It should have been handled Pro Bono !

 

[Renee750il]

It doesn't bring the poor dog back , but at least it was in the family's favor . Lawyer's fee unbelievable ! It should have been handled Pro Bono !

Private practice lawyers have to feed their kids and dogs too -- and pay their paralegals.

 

[Lilavati]

Private practice lawyers have to feed their kids and dogs too -- and pay their paralegals.

Actually, if it was handled as a civil rights basis, it might have been pro bono . . . the court can award fees to the lawyers even when they took the case for free. Without reading the whole docket, I have no idea if that fee was reasonable . . . but to do a case right can cost the lawyers a fortune, not to mention that they have to pay themselves and their staff. When you start looking at hundreds of hours of work, even if the laywer is very cheap, it adds up really, really fast.

About the judgment though, if I wasn't up late, taking a break from doing many many hours of work on a brief, I'd get up and dance.

 

[Renee750il]

Actually, if it was handled as a civil rights basis, it might have been pro bono

True, lol -- but it would be kind of nice for people to realize that private lawyers actually work for a living Besides, in that jurisdiction (I'm familiar with the area and have worked on cases there in the past), I'd be surprised if it were done that way. Would be nice, but it's not typical there, although since they were from Florida and not local it's a possibility.

 

[bubbatd]

Renee , I do understand . That's why Jan went out of private practice .....the last case there that she won was to return the custody of 2 young kids to their druggy Daddy . Made her sick !

 

[Amstaffer]

About time a Pittie gets some justice (not complete justice IMHO though).

 

[Kim M]

Apparently his wife kicked him out and his kids wouldn't have anything to do with him either. Don't know how much of that's true, but that's the courthouse gossip.

GOOD! Makes me sick the family asked him to shut the door and he laughed. Then he shoots the dog? UGH! Makes me so mad.