Kreindler Settles $3.75 Million Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit on Behalf of Family of Eurie Stamps
September 30, 2016
Kreindler settles $3.75 million Federal Civil Rights lawsuit on behalf of the family of Eurie Stamps in Boston Federal Court against the Town of Framingham, MA, and one of its police officers.
Shortly after midnight on January 5, 2011, Eurie Stamps was watching television in his bedroom when the Framingham Police Department SWAT team descended on his home to serve a search warrant directed at his 20-year-old stepson. Despite Mr. Stamps' immediate compliance with the officers' commands to lie on the floor with his hands above his head, one officer disengaged the safety on his assault-style rifle and aimed the weapon at Mr. Stamps' head. While the parties dispute the details about what happened next, it is not disputed that the weapon accidentally fired and killed Mr. Stamps as he lay on the floor. As noted by the Court of Appeals, when the officer encountered Mr. Stamps, he had already "been subdued, was lying in a hallway on his stomach with his hands above his head, and was compliant and posed no known threat to the officers."
The focus of the family's lawsuit was that the officer who shot Mr. Stamps violated his civil rights, protected by the United States Constitution, by recklessly handling his rifle in direct violation of his training and clear department policies,
"We are satisfied that the settlement represents some justice, but it cannot bring Eurie back," said Norma Stamps, Eurie's widow. Mr. Stamps' son, Eurie Jr., commented, "We are pleased that the civil rights laws held the Framingham police accountable for this completely senseless shooting of an innocent man, my father."
Kreindler attorney Anthony Tarricone appears on CBS Boston speaking about the Eurie Stamps Federal Civil Rights case
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The Stamps family is represented by Anthony Tarricone and Joseph P. Musacchio of the Kreindler & Kreindler law firm and Anthony W. Fugate of the Law Offices of Anthony W. Fugate.
The focus of the family's lawsuit was that the officer who shot Mr. Stamps violated his civil rights, protected by the United States Constitution, by recklessly handling his rifle in direct violation of his training and clear department policies,
