Paulino D. Camacaro v. Tommie Lee Sanders (C/A No. 2013-CP-23-06300)
Aug 26, 2015
OUTCOME: Verdict in the amount of $375,000
On August 26, 2015, a Greenville County jury awarded $375,000 to a worker who was injured while driving a business-owned vehicle on Interstate 85.
Their client, Paulino Camacaro, had been driving a ...vehicle owned by his employer, a painting company, when he was sideswiped on Interstate 85 in Greenville while heading to his home in Atlanta. Mr. Camacaro sustained a herniated disc and lost his painting job of 18 years after the crash. At the time of trial, he had accrued $41,000 in medical bills, which did not include a back surgery that his doctors recommended.
Throughout the course of the trial, defense argued that the Plaintiff’s back injuries were preexisting. The Defendant’s highest pretrial offer was $60,000.
Civil rights
Estate of Bert Reeves v. Town of Cottageville, Officer Randall Price
Oct 15, 2014
OUTCOME: Verdict in the amount of $97,500,000.00
The events that led to this action stem from the small, rural Town of Cottageville, South Carolina, which was the lifelong home of Carl Albert “Bert” Reeves. On May 16, 2011, Reeves was shot and kille...d by Defendant Randall Price, a police officer with the Cottageville Police Department.
The Town of Cottageville is a duly created municipality under South Carolina law and Plaintiff’s claims against the Town of Cottageville and the Cottageville Police Department relate to the hiring, training, supervision, and retention practices of these Defendants. The Complaint tracks Officer Price’s employment history which includes being fired from at least six South Carolina law enforcement agencies since 1999 and the revocation of Officer Price’s Law Enforcement Officer Certification. Beyond his lengthy employment history, the Complaint alleges that Officer Price was featured in a 2005 media series, “Tarnished Badges.”
Despite knowledge of Officer Price’s deplorable employment history and prior complaints of repeated excessive force, the Town of Cottageville and the Cottageville Police Department hired him to police the Town of Cottageville on May 15, 2008. The Plaintiff has alleged that Officer Price’s previous forceful and abusive police tactics began to resurface in Cottageville soon after he was hired. Fearful of his tactics, Cottageville residents became afraid and looked to Bert Reeves, a former mayor of the Town, for help in addressing and vocalizing issues with Officer Price to the Town and the Cottageville Police Department. Due to Reeves’s involvement in voicing the complaints of concerned Cottageville residents regarding Officer Price’s aggressive behavior, Officer Price began to target Bert Reeves.
Officer Price’s targeting of Reeves ultimately culminated on May 16, 2011. On that day, Officer Price drove onto Nut Hatch Lane, a dirt road located approximately two miles from Town Hall, to confront Mr. Reeves. Officer Price, who was on duty, but was not performing a lawful traffic stop, never sounded his siren and never engaged his dash camera. Officer Price blocked Mr. Reeves from traveling further and proceeded to shoot and kill him. Mr. Reeves was not armed during the encounter.
Plaintiff, Ashley Reeves as Personal Representative of the Estate of Carl Albert Reeves, filed this action against the Town of Cottageville, the Cottageville Police Department, and Randall Price, individually, on August 28, 2012. The lawsuit alleges various state causes of action as well as federal causes of action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983.
Plaintiff alleged separate and distinct claims of gross negligence regarding the hiring, supervision, and retention of Police Officer Randall Price, as well as violation of the decedent’s constitutional rights under 42 USC 1983, including excessive force, violation of due process, violation of the right to bodily integrity, and municipal liability regarding the hiring, supervision, retention, and training of its police officers, including Police Officer Randall Price. Plaintiff has claims for survival and wrongful death.
Defendants raised various defenses, including affirmative defenses, and immunities afforded under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act.
Civil rights
Estate of Jerome Laudman v. South Carolina Department of Corrections
May 07, 2014
OUTCOME: Settlement in the amount of $1,200,000.00
Jerome Laudman suffered from mental illness and was intellectually disabled. According to an SCDC internal investigation, Mr. Laudman died while in state custody from complications of hypothermia and ...sepsis while in the Special Management Unit at Lee Correctional Institution, where according to the S.C. Court, conditions "fall below what is acceptable for 21st century correctional institutions." Mr. Laudman was known to have spent eleven (11) days lying naked on a cold concrete floor, covered in filth, while refusing all foods and medications and ingesting his own excrement. Incredibly, the SCDC internal report revealed that none of the many correctional and medical staff assigned to this unit intervened, despite numerous requests from other inmates, until Mr. Laudman's physical condition reached an irreversible state.
Personal injury
Daniel McElveen v. Phi Beta Sigma, et al.
Apr 03, 2014
OUTCOME: Verdict in the amount of $1,600,000.00
The Plaintiff, Daniel McElveen, who was hospitalized and suffered from an acute renal injury after a 2011 "Hell Night" fraternity ritual, brought suit against Francis Marion University, Phi Beta Sigma ...Fraternity, and homeowner, Maurice Robinson.
