Sun Sentinel – by Lisa J. Huriash
Federal marshals have seized the car, furniture and other belongings of a Palm Beach sheriff’s sergeant who was found liable by a jury for shooting an unarmed man, leaving him paralyzed.
The property was seized Saturday at Deputy Adams Lin’s house, according to Barry Golden, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service.
A jury awarded Dontrell Stephens — the wounded man who was left unable to walk — more than $23.1 million, an amount later lowered to $22.4 million, in a lawsuit against Lin and the Sheriff’s Office.
Four marshals knocked on Lin’s townhouse door and served him the court order detailing how his property would be taken, said Stephens’ attorney, Jack Scarola.
Lin read the court order, became visibly shaken, and fainted, collapsing to the ground, Scarola said.
Paramedics were called and when Lin recovered, he sat on a sheriff’s squad car and watched movers load up his belongings and “empty out virtually everything,” Scarola said.
Left behind: anything obviously belonging to his daughter, Scarola said.
Among the items taken: his car, couch, coffee tables, end tables, lamps, his collection of Samurai swords, flatscreen TV, iron, ironing board, computer, golf clubs, bicycle, tools, and almost all of his non-Sheriff’s Office clothing, Scarola said.
“I don’t think we took any shoes and I don’t think we took any underwear,” Scarola said. But “shirts and pants and shorts are all gone, jackets.”
“We left behind cups and saucers and dishes,” he said. “There’s nothing of any significant value in those.”
Lin’s attorney, Steven Ellison, said Wednesday he could not comment.
The shooting happened in September 2013 when Lin, then a deputy, pulled over Stephens for a bicycle infraction.
Lin said he was afraid for his life, but later learned Stephens had only been holding a broken cellphone.
Lin fired four bullets. Three remain lodged in Stephens’ body, two in his arm and one in his spine. The one in his spine left Stephens paralyzed and needing to use a wheelchair.
In November, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer ruled that none of Lin’s $82,400 in wages should be garnished to help pay off the judgment because he proved he was “head of a family” since he provides more than half of the support for his 6-year-old daughter.
Lin pays his ex-wife $400 a month to care for their child, and he also picks up the tab for school lunches, after care, ice skating and taekwondo. His overtime is exempt, too.
But his possessions, which will wind up on the auction block, are not protected.
The Sheriff’s Office is appealing the jury verdict. If the agency is unsuccessful, Stephen’s lawyers said they can seek $200,000 from the agency. Money after that amount must be approved by the Florida Legislature.
Scarola said he warned the Sheriff’s Office ahead of time that he’d seize property if the Sheriff’s Office didn’t pay the first $200,000 of the jury award. He said they declined.
Scarola said when Lin’s things are sold at auction, the Marshals’ fee would be paid first, along with the movers and storage facility, and tow truck company and driver.
“This is all before Dontrell gets the first dollar,” he said. “If anything remains it begins to satisfy the … judgment.”
“I took no pleasure in having to do what we did, but we have an obligation to [act] for our client,” Scarola said. “Dontrell is very pleased we’re making every effort to protect his legal interest. It was the only alternative open to us and definitely the right thing to do.”
lhuriash@sunsentinel.com or 954-572-2008
Copyright © 2017, Sun Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-adams-lin-property-seizure-20170111-story.html
This should be happening a lot more often.
let me start out by saying i dont like that this could potentially happen to anyone, other than a cop.. but now that it has finally happened to a cop , i need to say its about dam time and its time to ramp this the hell up
Next Pig .. get in line to be sheered .. were friken done with your imagined superiority you think you hold over us .. Rule Of Law applies to all,, or none
the way this case was handled NEEDS to set a standard, not be a 1X thing and it needs to be published how this came about for all the citizens to see the road map in turning this shit around
I see where the wife obviously woke up and divorced this slug ,, but I know he bought her a nice wedding set so.. take her wedding band and engagement ring too shes not using it .. she married the goon , let this be another lesson in not making the same mistake twice
this needs to be made the norm.. not the oddity it is at this point in our Republic
they should have left him underwareless
The innocent man was paralyzed because the deputy did not ensure he was in actual danger. A cell phone, broken or not, does not look like a hand gun. Shooting first is what the cops are being trained to do. Being trained under IDF tactics is criminal. We are not in a war zone. Look at the number of unarmed individuals killed each year by cops. The cops are taught to claim/state they were in fear for their lives. Even when the individual is unarmed or running away.
Respondant Superior, the supervisor of that deputy, should also be required to pay. I hope they take all the sheriff’s belongings too.
A bike infraction is not a reason to be shot. If cops are afraid for their lives with every interaction with the public, then those public servants need to resign now. Those cowards are endangering the public and giving good cops a bad name. The good cops that don’t see the public as the enemy and know how to evaluate the situation. Not shoot first.
“Good cops”? They don’t exist.
About time these rotten uniformed thugs are held personally accountable for their actions. It levels the playing field between citizens and the police state thugs. Now that the door has been cracked open it will be just a short matter of time when it will be wide open and all those rotten uniformed thugs personally sued for everything they have. Everything!
So the cop house is on the hook for $200k if they don’t get that out of the crap Lin owned. His stout wages are not touched.
This is for a $22+ million suit?
Does the state pick up the rest of the guy is just sol, aside from the 3 souvenirs from the considerate cop.