Black Cop Beaten By White Cops Awarded More Than $23 Million In Damages
Cops will apparently beat their own, especially if they're bigoted cops and willing to beat the next black person they see. St. Louis police officer was working undercover during protests following the acquittal of Officer Jason Stockley, who had been charged with murder for the killing of a black St. Louis resident, Anthony Lamar Smith.
Officer Hall was just doing his police work when he happened upon five members of the PD's Civil Disobedience Team." Civil disobedience was apparently their directive, not their purview. Four of the officers threw Hall to the ground and beat him severely. All four officers were ultimately indicted and put on trial for the beating of their fellow officer.
One of those officers, Dustin Boone, made an appearance here at Techdirt back in 2021. During his criminal trial, his lawyer objected to the prosecution's introduction of his racist text messages as evidence of his intent to do harm to Officer Hall... or at least anyone else who looked like him. They're quite the read.
It's already a state of emergency! There are r niggers running wild all across the city and even if/when we catch them..... they don't get in any trouble because there are plate lips running the CAO!
That was sent to a group text that included several other St. Louis police officers. This one was sent to a group text including the names Kayla, Kelsea, Mom, Ashley Marie, Dad:"
What city r we in?
These fuckin niggers r the same as St. Louis niggers.
The good news is most of the cops involved ended up serving time for this beating.
Boonewas sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison after being convicted by a jury of a single civil rights charge. [Christopher] Myerswas sentenced to probationafter pleading guilty to a single felony charge, and[Bailey] Colletta got probationfor lying to the FBI and a grand jury about the attack.[Steven] Korte was acquittedof the charges against him.
The former officer being hit with a $23 million settlement is Randy Hays, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years and four months in prison. Hall's lawsuit was served to Hays while he was still incarcerated, but Hays failed to respond to it.
So, the judgment here is a default judgment. And while Hays may have had plenty of time to respond to it, thanks to having nowhere else to go until his time was served, he probably didn't have a lot of available cash to hire a lawyer to fight the lawsuit. Plus, he had already pleaded guilty and admitted to taking part in the beating, so there weren't a whole lot of options available to defend himself with.
Hays will have a year to challenge this default judgment. He probably won't. While it may look like justice, it's incredibly unlikely Hays has anywhere near $23 million in assets. And with an actual federal felony on his record, his employment options will be limited. (I mean, at least outside of law enforcement.)
Hall still has a pending lawsuit against Meyers and Boone. And he's already secured a settlement from the city for $5 million, so at least he's getting something out of this beyond two titanium plates in his neck, the removal of his gall bladder, a fused vertebrae, and a deep distrust of law enforcement. That's how his 22-year career as a cop ended: as the victim of a beating delivered by some members of the Thin Blue Line" who suddenly decided a black man they didn't immediately recognize must be on the wrong side of the line.