Taxpayers in Perry County, Tennessee will pay a $835,000 to 61-year-old former police officer Larry Bushart to settle his lawsuit after the county sheriff imprisoned him for 37 days just for posting a meme. The settlement was announced Wednesday.
Justice Rita Maxwell ordered Brian Da Costa's detention and vacated the lower court's decision, which had allowed his release under house arrest supervised by three sureties.
In the 2022 incident, police were responding to a 911 call from a frightened employee of Paul Carey, who runs a dentist practice out of his Massapequa home, saying she'd seen Carey brandishing a gun after yelling her name from inside his house, where he kept, per law enforcement, a hefty armory that included over 30 guns; many loaded, 61 high-capacity magazines; seven silencers; 3,000 rounds of ammunition.
During the ceremonial handshake that followed the game between the two teams, Coach Taylor made a request to Officer Clark to remove unauthorized students from the ceremonial handshake line. In response, Officer Clark chose not to ensure the safety of the student athletes, coaches, and staff of Tuskegee University.
Over the last 40 years, he has represented over a thousand victims of police brutality and misconduct. His most notable cases include the 1991 Rodney King against LAPD, 2009 Oscar Grant against the Oakland BART Police, and 2015 Mario Woods against SFPD.
The reasons behind these delays revolve around State Police Sgt. Scott Quigley, who was involved in a fatal crash in Woburn in December 2023, records show. Quigley, who investigated the Phan brothers' case, struck a wheelchair van with his police cruiser. One month after the crash, Angelo Schettino, a passenger in that van, died from his injuries.
The experienced and respected midlands-based detective with over 30 years of unblemished service endured a nightmare after he was suspended for more than three years.
The victim was alone in a car with Morris when she repeatedly told him to stop and tried to push him away as he forced himself on her after a party both of them had attended in Brooklyn, according to prosecutors. The pair had known each other for about two years and shared mutual friends, prosecutors said.
