NEW HAVEN, Conn. — In what has now become the largest settlement in a police misconduct case in our nation's history, an agreement has finally been reached between the City of New Haven, and the family of Randy Cox.
Cox is the man who was paralyzed while in the custody of the New Haven Police Department.
The agreement was reached in a settlement conference on Friday.
"It's really a historic day in America," said Louis Rubano, one of the attorneys for Randy Cox and a Partner and Owner at Weber & Rubano LLC in Wallingford.
In the year since his life has been flipped upside down, Rubano said Cox has been stoic and strong, remaining positive. When the agreement was reached, it was the first time he saw Cox break down.
"He's continued to try to live life the best that he can. But Friday night at seven o'clock when we finally got this case resolved, it was the first time that I saw some real emotion from Randy. And I got the sense that finally he could let some of what he's been living for the last year, go," Rubano said.
"The reality is, the family is still very sad and angry. And money can only do so much," Rubano said.
On Juneteenth of last year, Cox was being transported in a police van, handcuffed and without a seatbelt, when the driver stopped short. Cox then went flying into the back of the van. He complained to the officers that he couldn't move, and that he thought he broke his neck. Many of the officers have since said they thought he was intoxicated. The officers can be seen on body cameras ignoring the calls for help and putting him in a jail cell as they waited for EMS crews to check him out. The officers involved in the case are Jocelyn Lavandier, Luis Rivera, Ronald Pressley, Oscar Diaz, and Sgt. Betsy Segui.
"We want accountability for our police department. The actions of those several officers does not represent the overall police department," said New Haven Mayor, Justin Elicker.
Elicker said the day after the incident, the city released the body-camera video from the incident and put the state's attorney in charge of the investigation. Since then, the police department has finished an internal affairs investigation, and made some changes.
Now, most police transports happen in cruisers with seatbelts, unless it is a larger group. In that case, the prisoners need to have seatbelts. The New Haven Police department also trained all officers on their duty to intervene.
"We want to make sure this never happens again," Elicker said.
But Rubano said those changes have come too late for his client.
"He'll never be able to live life the way he did before. But what it will allow him to do, is to try and do some of those things that he enjoyed doing in a very different way," Rubano said.
Rubano said Randy is still paralyzed from the chest down. He's at a treatment facility in West Haven, where he goes through physical therapy multiple times a day. Randy can move one arm, but not his fingers.
"He's trained himself and he's done a great job to be able to turn on his iPhone and communicate with family and friends by way of voice texting. So he can't type but what he can do is voice text so once he opens up that text he can then record his voice and send a message," Rubano said.
Randy's goal is to be able to move back home with his mother and his family. However, when that happens, he'll need a home that is handicap accessible, and he will need a team of people helping him out on a daily basis. It's estimated that his treatment will cost about $1 million each year.
"A live in nurse, 24/7, a live-in cook 24/7, team members that can come in and turn Randy every four hours, which is what he needs still to prevent bed sores," Rubano said.
Still, Rubano said Randy continues to look to the bright side, and every day he's working to get better.
"Randy has taught me that you never give up," Rubano said.
As for how the New Haven will be paying for the lawsuit, the city does have a $30 million insurance policy. That money will be accessible to Randy within the next month. The goal with that money, Rubano said, is to get Randy into a better facility with better equipment or, into a his home with help.
City leaders will then have to pay the rest of the money, $15 million, out of pocket. The Board of Alders has yet to approve that funding, but they will be making that decision in the coming months. If approved, that money will be available to Randy in September or October.
As for the five officers involved in the case, two of them have been fired (Officers Jocelyn Lavandier and Luis Rivera), one of then has retired (Ronald Pressley), and two others will learn their fate at a hearing on June 28th (Sgt. Betsy Segui and Officer Oscar Diaz). All five of the officers are facing criminal charges.
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