Police conduct has come under scrutiny in Kentucky. Cases investigating police misconduct in Kentucky are common, but few end in big payouts, according to the Cato Institute National Police Misconduct Reporting Project.
Some of the large payouts
reported in the Cato Institute survey of police misconduct included a $6.28 million settlement to a man who was pistol whipped and an $835,000 settlement out of Louisville in which a man was killed by a speeding police officer.
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The pistol-whipping incident happened in 2007, when volunteer Whitley County Sheriff's Deputy Tony Ramey and his son tried to get a gun back that the son had sold to Dalton Christopher Brewer,
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported. Brewer said that following an argument, Ramey smashed him in the head several times with a pistol, knocking him unconscious. The incident left Brewer with disabilities, including seizures, impaired vision and post-traumatic stress disorder, the Herald-Leader said. The $6.28 million jury verdict includes damages for pain and suffering, emotional harm, loss of his earning ability, and medical expenses.
The Louisville Metro Government agreed to pay a $835,500 settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit resulting from the 2006 death of 37-year-old Donnie Puente, who was struck and killed by Louisville Metro Police Officer Kenten Measle, who was speeding on his way to work,
The Courier-Journal reported. Puente was putting gas into a stranded vehicle in the emergency lane of Interstate 64.
That incident followed another traffic-related death in which Louisville Metro Policeman Jason Brown was driving the wrong way on a one-way street and killed Derek Butler as he drove home from choir practice,
WDRB-TV reported. The case was settled for $1.3 million.
Courts awarded a much smaller settlement of $62,500 to a judge-executive who was held in custody by Denny Peyman, then sheriff of Jackson County.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the settlement amounts to about $1,000 a minute for the time Judge-Executive William O. Smith was in custody. The case involved fighting between the two public officials and accusations that the judge had mishandled public money.
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