Estate of Blue Sexton v. Estate of Dominick Doris

Publication: Cook County Jury Verdict Reporter Published: 3/12/2010

(BBB 22/5) CIVIL RIGHTS--FATAL SHOOTING BY OFF-DUTY COP IN RESTAURANT PARKING LOT (14)

Estate of Blue Sexton, deceased v Estate of Dominick Doris, deceased, City of Chicago 05C-3283 Tried Jan. 11-15, 2010

Verdict: $348,000 v both defts ($315,000 excessive force/wrongful death; $33,000 survival claim).

Judge: James B. Zagel (USDC IL NE)

Pltf Atty(s): Jeffrey J. Neslund and Michael D. Robbins DEMAND: none

Deft Atty(s): Thomas J. Platt, Jonathan Clark Green and Sanjay H. Patel of Chicago Corporation Counsel for both
defts (SELF-INSURED) OFFER: none

Pltf Medl: Dr. Kendall Crowns (Pathologist)

Deft Expert(s): Scott Sargent of Force Science Institute Ltd., 124 E. Walnut St., #120, Mankato, MN (507-387-1290)
(Human Factors), Lucien Haag (Ballistics), Robert T. Johnson (Police Procedure) and Dr. Michael W. Kaufman (Pathologist) for both defts

May 15, 2005, pltf M-32 Blue Sexton was a front seat passenger in a Lincoln Navigator traveling northbound through an alley behind the Hollywood Grill restaurant, 1548 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago. Deft M-35 Doris was an off-duty Chicago police detective driving through the restaurant's parking lot towards the alley when the two vehicles nearly collided.
Both vehicles stopped, and pltf and deft got out and began to argue. As Sexton turned to head back to the Navigator, Doris shot at him and two bullets struck him in the back. Doris then walked up to the passenger door and fired two additional rounds through the window while Sexton had his hands raised in surrender, hitting him in the upper right arm and right chest. Sexton survived the four gunshot wounds for three days until he died at Stroger Hospital; he was survived by a 2-year-old daughter. The defense contended that the detective's use of force was reasonable because immediately after the near collision Sexton pointed a gun at Doris through the passenger window, all of the Navigator's passengers got out to confront him, Doris withdrew his off-duty weapon and held it down at his side, Sexton pointed his gun at the detective and took a position next to a telephone pole in the alley, Doris announced he was a police officer and ordered Sexton to drop his gun, Sexton ignored repeated commands and instead chambered a round in his weapon in readiness to fire, Doris fired three shots at Sexton while he was turning and running two to three steps back to his vehicle, and Sexton had more friends in the alley who were in two or three additional cars behind the Navigator. Defts maintained that after Sexton re-entered the Navigator, Doris went to the passenger door and again ordered him to drop his weapon, but Sexton continued to point his gun at the officer, so Doris fired two more rounds in defense of his life. A .25 caliber handgun was recovered in the back seat of the Navigator with Sexton's blood and DNA. Sexton and most of the occupants of his vehicle and his friends in the other vehicles had felony convictions; only two of these friends (now incarcerated) testified at trial.
Detective Doris died of natural causes three years after the incident, and his videotaped deposition was played at trial. Pltf's petition for attorneys' fees as the prevailing party is pending.