- The family of Leonard Cure, a Black man who was fatally shot by a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop, plans to sue the sheriff’s office.
- Attorneys are seeking $16 million in restitution, citing $1 million for each year Cure spent wrongfully imprisoned in Florida.
- Attorneys argue the deputy, who was previously disciplined for using excessive force, should not have been hired.
Attorneys for the family of a Black man fatally shot by a Georgia deputy during an October traffic stop have given formal notice of plans to sue the sheriff’s office in a letter demanding $16 million in restitution.
Civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels told reporters Tuesday that the sum represents $1 million for every year Leonard Cure spent imprisoned in Florida on a wrongful conviction. He was killed just three years after Florida authorities set him free.
WRONGFULLY CONVICTED BLACK MAN, WHO SPENT 16 YEARS IN A FL PRISON, KILLED DURING POLICE TRAFFIC STOP
“Everything was going right for Leonard, things were looking up, until he had this encounter with this sheriff’s deputy,” Crump said during a news conference with members of Cure’s family.
Camden County Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge killed 53-year-old Cure during a violent struggle on the shoulder of Interstate 95 after pulling him over for speeding and reckless driving.
GA DEPUTY WITH HISTORY OF VIOLENCE FACES SCRUTINY AFTER FATALLY SHOOTING MOTORIST DURING TRAFFIC STOP
Dash and body camera video of the Oct. 16 shooting show Aldridge shocking Cure with a Taser after he refused to put his hands behind him to be cuffed. Cure fought back and had a hand at the deputy’s throat when Aldridge shot him point-blank.
Relatives have said Cure likely resisted because of psychological trauma from his imprisonment in Florida for an armed robbery he didn’t commit. Officials exonerated and freed him in 2020.
The lawyers for Cure’s family say Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor should never have hired Aldridge, who was fired by the neighboring…
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