Asheville to pay pedestrian in police beating $650,000

Joel Burgess | The Citizen-Times

Show Caption Hide Caption APD chase, beat man they say jaywalked Warning: This video contains graphic content. An Asheville police body camera captured this encounter near the corner of Biltmore and Short Coxe avenues in August 2017.

ASHEVILLE - An unarmed black pedestrian who was beaten, shocked and choked in a highly publicized encounter with police will get more than a half million dollars from the city.

In a settlement completed Friday, the city agreed to pay Johnnie Rush $650,000 following the beating almost a year ago.

Officer body camera video of the beating became national news. Locally, the beating raised tensions between African-American residents and police and caused upheaval in city government, including the ouster of the city manager.

Rush's attorney, prominent civil rights lawyer James Ferguson, said in an email Friday he was pleased the parties were able to resolve the case without "a costly, contentious trial that would have the potential of further dividing a community that is already too racially divided.

"We hope that this settlement will allow the parties and the community to move forward and begin the painful and difficult process of racial healing that is long overdue."

Rush could not be reached.

City 'not liable' but officials contrite

In agreeing to the amount, the city didn't admit liability in the beating for which former officer Chris Hickman is a facing felony assault by strangulation charge as well as two misdemeanor charges.

Top city officials however, including Mayor Esther Manheimer and Police Chief Tammy Hooper, have offered apologies to Rush.

Speaking Friday afternoon, Manheimer said she wanted to continue "to convey our apologies — my personal apology — to Mr. Rush for what he suffered.

"I'm glad he was well represented and that the city could resolve his claim," she said. "And I hope that as a community we’re headed in a better direction."

In terms of the amount, Joe Adams, a personal injury attorney with more than 20 years experience in Asheville, said he didn't know all the details of the case but believed an attorney such as Ferguson would have gotten the best deal he could for his client.

Litigation decades ago by Ferguson brought about the desegregation of Asheville schools. In Charlotte, the well-known black attorney worked in the state's first integrated law firm.

"I would say that is probably the right amount because he has been doing this for so long and is such a fine attorney that he wouldn’t let his client sign for anything less than it would be worth," Adams said.

A city settlement 10 years ago paid $1.5 million to the family of a driver killed and his seriously injured passenger after a man police were chasing drove the wrong way up an Interstate 240 ramp.

In all such cases, Adams said, an attorney would have to weigh what damages his client suffered and what his chances would be if the case went to a jury.

Brutal encounter obvious, but injuries not clear

According to language of the civil settlement, the money paid to Rush "constitutes damages on account of personal injuries...in a case involving physical injury."

It's not clear what the extent of Rush's injuries were. Images of the brutal encounter were made public after the Citizen Times on Feb. 28 published leaked footage from Hickman's body camera.

It showed Hickman, who is white, shocking and hitting Rush with a stun gun, striking him with his fists and holding him around the neck with his arm and hands. At different times Rush says he can't breath and cries out for help.

Hickman and another officer had stopped Rush south of downtown and accused him of jaywalking.

Rush was taken to the emergency room and released that night, apparently without major injuries, though pictures he provided showed his head swollen and large abrasions on his limbs.

The U.S. Justice Department investigated the case as a possible civil rights violation, but Andrew Murray, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina declined to prosecute.

Where the money goes; impact on taxpayers

The city will break the sum up, with $342,500 going to annuities, which will provide various monthly and annual payments to Rush from 2021 to 2051. Annuities are long-term investment instruments.

The rest will be directed to his attorney's firm Ferguson Chambers and Sumter. Ferguson declined to say how the $307,500 will be used, but Adams said it's normal for for such money to go to fees, expenses for expert witnesses and as an upfront payment to a plaintiff.

The personal injury attorney said it would be very unusual for Rush not to receive an immediate lump sum in addition to the annuity payments which kick in three years from now.

Because the settlement is entirely for personal injuries it is not taxable, he said.

Insurance will cover $150,000 while city coffers will pay out $500,000. That half million is equivalent to the amount the city puts in annually to its trust fund for affordable housing.