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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Crime King County Settles with Family of Brain Trauma Victim for $10 Million

Posted by Cienna Madrid on Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 11:23 AM

The family of Christopher Sean Harris—the man who suffered devastating brain trauma after being shoved head first into a concrete wall by a King County Sheriff's Deputy nearly two years ago—has reached a $10 million settlement with King County. Harris' wife was seeking $25 million in damages from the county through a civil suit filed in Pierce County Superior Court.

Via the Seattle Times:

In May 2009, Harris was wrongly identified by a witness as a suspect in an assault outside a Belltown convenience store. The witness pointed Harris out to Paul and another deputy, who were working as King County Metro Transit officers. They yelled at Harris from across the street, but he ran, according to the Sheriff's Office. They chased him for several blocks.

As Harris slowed to a stop, Paul slammed him into the concrete wall outside the Cinerama theater.

A surveillance camera outside the theater captured footage of the incident, and Harris can be seen raising his hands before he is hit by Paul.

The 30-year-old Harris is now bedridden, unable to talk, and requires around the clock care. His wife is his primary caregiver.

Comments (29) RSS

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A big shout out to the Times, whose strong coverage of the trial must have helped push the County into realizing if damn well needed to settle. The Times paid to send their reporter Sara Jean Green to cover witness testimony last week and this - last night she published her report on the paramedic testifying that he had to demand an explanation from the officers, and that the assholes chuckled and told him Harris ran into the wall.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/lo…

I'm sorry Slog wasn't able to follow the Times's coverage. I think Ms. Green did a terrific job, and hope she realizes she helped the Harris family get this result.

Posted by gloomy gus on January 25, 2011 at 11:38 AM

And what were the repercussions for Deputy Matthew Paul, the thug that nearly killed him?

Posted by Ben on January 25, 2011 at 11:40 AM

@2 Exactly.

Posted by Danger on January 25, 2011 at 11:44 AM

For all the shouting and hollering about the SPD (and that shouting and hollering is very justified, don't misread me as saying I don't think it is), KCSD always struck me as the real thugs in uniforms in Seattle. Those of you who live there ought to be demanding a Justice Dept. probe into Sheriff's, too.

Posted by Matt from Denver on January 25, 2011 at 11:45 AM

"death squads" not just for RIO anymore. ftp

Posted by masgroovy on January 25, 2011 at 11:55 AM

An internal Sheriff's Office investigation into the incident determined that Paul delivered a "hard shove" that fell within legal bounds.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office declined to file criminal charges against the deputy, calling the confrontation "a very tragic incident."

It sounds like the thug's back on the streets "protecting" his community again.

Posted by Canadian Nurse on January 25, 2011 at 11:58 AM

$10 million will never restore Christopher Harris to the normal-functioning human being he once was. The video footage was sickening to watch. Only a mentally-deficient moron wouldn't recognize the probability of catastrophic injury for slamming someone into a wall like that. May karma come back around and cause Deputy Paul immense suffering over the rest of his life.

Posted by Hernandez

on January 25, 2011 at 11:59 AM

I agree that the family deserves a shit ton of monies for pain and suffering and for what I'm sure are very hefty medical bills. But I does irk me that the county (The people of the county) is paying to make amends for some thug cops actions. The guilty party is the KCSD, KC Metro PD, and officer Paul -- what are they paying? This money should be coming straight from their budgets and from a garnishment from Paul's paychecks for the next millennia.

Posted by BigSpinach on January 25, 2011 at 11:59 AM

I'm a mostly tax lovin' lib but I will not vote to provide money to either SPD or KCSD, period. How many lives have they taken or destroyed just in recent time? How is it that I am afraid to even interface with them? How is it that their MO is now to intimidate (or worse) first, ask questions later. How much more empirical evidence is necessary before the politico's, who ultimately control law enforcement, decide enough is enough and that it's law law enforcement that has become "the enemy" and not so-called social justice training?

I recused myself during voir dire recently by truthfully stating I would not believe the testimony of law enforcement on the stand as it was my view they would lie to obtain a conviction or protect their story even if they new the defendant was innocent. And that pissed me off, getting kicked off, for what virtually everyone in the room knew was the truth.

Posted by myr on January 25, 2011 at 12:16 PM

@9 Hey thanks. Because of short sighted people like you, I lost one of the few KCSD officers in my unincorporated city. Yes, there have been some horrible instances of police brutality and it terrifies me, but not as much as NOT HAVING A FUNCTIONING POLICE DEPT. Good work.

Posted by kersy on January 25, 2011 at 12:22 PM

Is there a list out there of all settlements/pending actions against the SPD/KCSD? I'd be curious to see how much this incompetence is costing us.

Posted by Free Lunch on January 25, 2011 at 12:26 PM

@10: Don't forget to thank the law enforcement agencies, too, for losing the trust of the people. How many LEO officers do you think $10,000,000 could have paid for?

Posted by Ben on January 25, 2011 at 12:30 PM

It's a good whack of the clue-stick to KCSD, but how far will $10M really go toward providing a lifetime of 24x7 care?

Posted by RonK, Seattle on January 25, 2011 at 12:38 PM

@13,

If he lives 50 years, $10 million will yield $200k/year, and that's assuming his family doesn't invest the money and put it in a trust (which would be really stupid not to do).

Posted by keshmeshi on January 25, 2011 at 12:48 PM

@10 file a complaint with the KC council for allowing the county to hire thugs that got so many in the County to turn against them. The blame starts at the top, with them, and Sue "Fuck you, King County" Rahr.

Posted by Joe Szilagyi

on January 25, 2011 at 12:54 PM

If I cost my employer $10 million, I'd be out on the street.

Posted by Don't you think he looks tired? on January 25, 2011 at 1:05 PM

We should find out if this $10m is being paid as a lump sum, to allow the family to invest it and support the victims from its earnings, or will a much smaller sum be used to buy an annuity, to make annual payments that would total $10m only after many, many years.

Posted by Citizen R on January 25, 2011 at 1:14 PM

Good news. I hope that's enough.

The officers were joking about it? That just add infuriating insult to injury. Can the officer be sued civially, as an individual, apart from this case?

The joking reinforces the mentality of the officers who write for that guild newsletter (supposedly only limited to a "few" officers out there).

Posted by in-frequent on January 25, 2011 at 1:24 PM

Hopefully someone will smash Matthew Paul's head into a concrete wall.

Has the fuck shown any remorse? Or does he believe he was justified?

Posted by Rotten666 on January 25, 2011 at 1:33 PM

A zero is missing from that settlement. Seriously. Ten million is not going to go very far towards making the county feel enough pain to rein in these rogue cops.

Posted by Hawke

on January 25, 2011 at 1:37 PM

well well.

19 posts and slog still hasn't gotten it right.

not surprising.

moral of the story?
if you're going to run don't get caught....

.

The man had been pointed out to police as the person who committed an assault.

He ran when the police called out to him.

After running several blocks after someone the officer had every right to believe was a violent criminal adrenalin (something you hipsters probably never experience...) is pretty strong.
Sure.
You slam the piece of garbage you're chasing into the wall.
What if it had been Isaiah M.K. Kalebu?
What if the brave officer caught and detained Isaiah M.K. Kalebu just minutes after his sicjkening murderous assault?
Would Slog be second guessing the takedown?

You're a bunch of whiny pussy bitches who get exactly the shitty sorry third world shithole government you deserve.

Posted by did we mention your liberal welfare state is collapsing? on January 25, 2011 at 1:38 PM

@14-subtract a likely 30-40% + expenses, which can be high, for the plaintiffs lawyers, and the family is likely getting 6-7 million, if that. Lot of cash, and if invested right, may or may not afford the poor man and his wife a lifetime of care, depending on external factors.

The nausea I get watching that disgustingly violent video? priceless. it's truly a breach of justice the officer wasn't charged and is still employed in LE.

Posted by Randy Beaver on January 25, 2011 at 2:01 PM

@1, @2, exactly. The money for pay-outs like this should come directly from law-enforcemnt agencies' pension funds. Hit them where it hurts. The more they stand to lose the more civil they are likely to become. I have never had more than a jay-walking ticket yet I find myself more afraid of police on the street, than hooligans.

Posted by thatsnotright on January 25, 2011 at 2:36 PM

I used to work with a close family member of the Harris' and I am incredibly pleased to read these results!

Posted by 6 on January 25, 2011 at 4:03 PM

The Stranger's "news department" hard at work.

Posted by Rake on January 25, 2011 at 5:48 PM

@21: If Isaiah M. K. Kalebu had after running from the police stopped and stuck his hands up in surrender, and had been slammed into a concrete wall, we'd still attack the officer who did so. We'd have little to no sympathy for Kalebu, since he's a murdering thug, but it's still not okay for an officer of the law to assault someone who is cooperating with them.

Posted by venomlash on January 25, 2011 at 5:57 PM

@10 - you're welcome, I'll continue to help in any way I can to destroy the KCSD, a group of overpaid criminal thugs who were one of a few, if not the only group not to accept pay cuts/raise deferral in order to keep everyone on the payroll.

I'll say it again

the KCSD disgusts me they are everything law enforcement in a republic should not be. Not every one of them at the personal level, but as a department, yes, it's rotten to the core (as it would appear SPD is as well) and a total housecleaning is in order - as much as it takes, until the people in charge and the ones on the streets relearn the "protect and serve" approach - if they don't like that, hey, it's not like they were drafted - they can go get a job as prison guards where it's likely it will still be a-okay to beat and kill people for a living.

Posted by myr on January 25, 2011 at 6:02 PM

Yeah, I don't say it lightly, but I think the only justice for an officer who jokes about destroying someone's life - and the lives of his loved ones - and then tries to cover it up deserves the same fate.

Matthew Paul, you're a fucking piece of shit, a sorry excuse for a human being, and a blight on the planet. May you someday get what you deserve, you worthless son of a bitch.

Posted by TVDinner

on January 25, 2011 at 10:40 PM

The Stranger has been good about being all over Ian Burke, but has dropped the ball on this one. Paul needs to be fired. This needs to be the start of the conversation on this case, not the end. What is going to be done to prevent this in the future? In some ways this is as bad or worse than the John T Williams case. At least Burke had the pretense of a weapon. This guy clearly stopped running, raised his hands up and was still body checked into a wall. Might as well have shot the guy. How is body slamming someone into a wall not considered using deadly force? The same way hitting someone on the head with a nightstick/baton or running into someone with a car is deadly force?

Posted by hifiandrew on January 26, 2011 at 6:23 PM