When A Tragedy Becomes A Travesty

On November 18, 2007 at 5:00 AM a young man died after being shocked twice by a Taser at the hands of a Frederick County Sheriff’s Deputy. This young man by all accounts was involved in a fight reported to police by several residents of the area. When the Deputy arrived on scene 3 of the young men involved complied with his orders and stopped fighting, one however refused to comply with the Deputies commands to show his hands and calm down. He was shocked with a Taser and when he still failed to comply was shocked a second time.

Autopsy reports indicate that the deceased had a blood alcohol content of .18. Last week the Grand Jury in Frederick County cleared the Deputy of wrong doing, indicating that he followed all Departmental Policies and he was finally allowed to return to duty.

Within days the tragedy of the young man’s death was turned into a travesty when the family decided to follow the advice of their lawyer and filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit, how many millions: $145 million to be exact. $100 million for wrongful death, $10 million for excessive force/police brutality, $10 million for assault and battery, $10 million for deprivation of civil rights, $10 million for negligent training and supervision and $5 million for the infliction of emotional distress.

And yet the worst is yet to come.

The worst part in this is the actions and biases of the family’s attorney Ted Williams who said at a press conference announcing his intention to cash in on the tragic event:

"We believe there has been a cover up from the beginning," Williams said. "Charles Jenkins came out and lied to the citizens of Frederick, Maryland."

Williams slammed Jenkins for initially saying Gray was only shocked once.

He said he has three witnesses to prove that Gray and the others were not fighting and were just talking loudly when Torres first arrived.

Williams also said one of the witnesses will testify that multiple deputies were there when Gray was shocked.

A grand jury ruled earlier this month that Torres, a 13-year veteran of the sheriff's office, was justified in his actions the night of Gray's death.

No Frederick County deputy has ever been indicted for "murdering a black man," Williams said. [Emphasis mine]

What did he just say?

How dare Mr. Williams make such inflammatory statements when he knows that this is not the case. Mr. Williams isn’t interested in seeing justice served; he is committing a drive by on justice in the attempt to get rich and his actions and statements should result in his immediate disbarment.

The family of the deceased has the right to seek recompense if they feel it is due, but the actions of the morning of November 18, 2007 that led to this young man’s death fall squarely on the deceased. There is no valid explanation to have a blood alcohol content of .18 at 5:00 AM, unless he had been out all night drinking. Furthermore there is no valid reason to ignore the commands of an officer who arrives on the scene of a fight and whose safety is paramount. The Deputy’s use of the Taser isn’t in question; it is the failure of the deceased to comply that resulted in his situation and Mr. Williams knows this. Why then does he insist upon stirring up racial tensions, unless he knows that the only way he can get a pay day is to blame the establishment and cause enough of an uproar to force a settlement.

Mr. Williams is a disgrace to the profession he represents; perhaps old Willy was right after all.