Convicted Murderer Awarded $1 In Arrest Lawsuit.

I think we might have found the most Bizzare story of the year:

http://cbs3.com/local/local_story_333101320.html

Convicted Murderer Awarded $1 In Arrest Lawsuit

(AP) BETHLEHEM, Pa. A man serving life without parole for stabbing his neighbor more than 80 times with a samurai sword and setting the victim’s clothes on fire was awarded $1 by a federal jury that ruled five of the officers arresting him used excessive force.

Sonny Thomas, 50, had sought $35 million in damages. He acknowledged that the was high on crack cocaine at the time of his arrest but said he was trying to oblige police and surrender peacefully, yet was attacked. He testified that he suffers recurring migraine headaches as a result.

John Gonzalez, a lawyer for the officers, argued that the officers did everything within department guidelines. He said he filed two motions with the federal judge in Philadelphia seeking to dismiss the decision based on lack of evidence and he expected the judge to rule within a week.

Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan said Tuesday night that the officers’ actions were “truly heroic” and said he was confident the verdict would be reversed.

“Imagine the scene. They walk into a room with a burning body that has a samurai sword sticking out of it. They holster their weapons and apprehend the suspect with their hands. I don’t know too many people who would act with that restraint,” Callahan said.

But Kristina Evans, one of three attorneys from Dechert LLP in Philadelphia representing Thomas, questioned why it took 10 officers to restrain a 5-foot-6, 160-pound man.

“Five officers held him while five hit him,” Evans said.

The jury found that officers Matthew Crenko, Matthew Lazur,

David Strawn, William Kissner and Louis Csaszar used excessive force. The jury found that the other five officers named in the suit did not use excessive force. They are Jeremy Alleshouse, John Iatarola, Mark DiLuzio, Moses Miller and Ronald Brazinski.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

😕 😑

if they used excessive force as described, then i dont find it very odd at all.
police officers are not in the business of carrying out punishment, regardless
of how brutal the crime. of course the officers could be telling the truth, but obviously the court of law disagrees

I'm curious to know how is he going to split that dollar with the attorneys that represent him.

Whats bizarre is how our system constantly wants to hold a higher standard of restraint to those with less training then police officers who act out in "justice" and receive punishments.

What would have been really funny though is if the guy was awarded 1 dollar and then the system awarded that to the jail for payments lol.

you know what? i misread the article. one dollar? what a waste of tax dollars 😬

One dollar. Funny.

You could buy many things with a dollar. 😄

Originally posted by JacopeX
You could buy many things with a dollar. 😄

What's sad is that the courts decided to take the word of a crack smoking, samurai sword wielding, murdering midget over police officers...

perhaps its just the court's solution to reprimand the officers while not rewarding the criminal....its actually pretty smart now that i think of it

I wish I had a dollar...

Originally posted by BackFire
I wish I had a dollar...

At least you know what you have to do for the courts to award you a dollar at least in PA.

Originally posted by BackFire
I wish I had a dollar...

McDonald's 1 dollar menu?

I'm hungry. 🙁

It's quite a common award.

It's a nominal payment. It indicates the rightness of the winning party, while pointing out that there are no damages needed.

A moral victory, as it were.

Oh goody, taxpayers get to pay the cost of the trial for this "moral victory".

Sounds worthwhile.

I thought that the award was $1 million......and I was angry.

but the $1 is pretty goddamn hilarious.

A waste of taxpayer dollars, to be sure, but that's the price of comedy

dumbass shouldnt have killed his neighbor. now that i think of it, he shouldnt have been smoking crack, then none of this would have ever happened.

I don't know whether to laugh or be disgusted.

Personally I feel like laughing, he couldn't actually have thought he would rightfully get 35 million dollars after being strung out and with a person on fire in his living room.

But it's kinda worrisome since it's kinda a slap in the face of the justice system seeing as how the jury did in fact find him the winner yet he didn't get any damages but a dollar. That's just a form of further punishment imo. I mean what he did was disgusting yes, but he was wronged as well no? So just as his victim gets what's due with his imprisonment etc, I think he should receive justice as well.

i am glad i am not the only one who feels like laughing about it.

Originally posted by Rogue Jedi
i am glad i am not the only one who feels like laughing about it.

Yeah I'm laughing my ass off right now, I can't believe this.

It's ridiculously funny 😱