Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Sergeant in fatal shooting to face trial
Evidence from victim’s parents calls ‘truthfulness’ of account into question, judges rule
A multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit against the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office and a sergeant who fatally shot Seth Adams in the parking lot of his workplace is expected to go to trial in early 2017.
An appeals court recently backed a decision by the trial judge that there is a genuine dispute about the facts surrounding the 2012 deadly shooting by Palm Beach sheriff ’s Sgt. Michael Custer.
Adams’ parents have produced “forensic evidence as well as the testimony of other witnesses that call into question the truthfulness of [Custer’s] explanation,” the judges wrote.
The excessive force and wrongful death case should go to trial in federal court in West Palm Beach, the judges ruled.
Senior U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley previously told both sides that he would schedule the jury trial as soon as possible after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel issued its decision.
The appellate ruling became final on Dec. 22.
Adams, 24, died two hours after Custer fired four shots at him in the parking lot of a Loxahatchee Groves plant nursery on the night of May 16, 2012.
Adams lived on the business property, which is operated by his relatives.
Adams’ parents, Lydia and Richard Adams, filed suit against Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, in his official capacity, and against Custer, individually.
The family alleges that Custer, who was working an undercover shift for the agency’s tactical surveillance unit, used excessive force and the shooting was not justified. The lawsuit also alleges that the agency should also be held liable for Custer’s alleged misconduct.
Lawyers for the family have not said precisely how much they would seek in damages, if they prevail.
The trial would be the next chapter in a series of troubling allegations of misconduct against the agency and some of its deputies, mostly involving shootings by deputies. In 2016, a number of civil lawsuits ended with one massive jury verdict and several significant settlements against the agency and some of its employees.
According to the lawsuit, Custer parked his unmarked law enforcement SUV in the parking lot of A One Stop Garden Shop, at 1950 A Road, and Adams confronted him about why he was there shortly before midnight.
Custer has testified that he shot Adams after the young man immediately began “screaming” at him and using profanities as he questioned who the plainclothes deputy was and what he was doing.
Custer alleged that Adams suddenly grabbed him by the throat “as hard as a man could grab you” and they grappled until the deputy broke free, pulled his gun and ordered Adams to the ground as he tried to arrest him.
Adams did not obey, according to Custer’s account, and after another scuffle, Custer said he fired four rounds at Adams because he thought Adams had grabbed a weapon from his vehicle.
There are “two versions of the facts in this case” laid out by Custer and disputed by lawyers for Adams’ parents, the appellate judges wrote in their ruling.
They ruled that there is a “genuine dispute” about the facts and circumstances of the shooting and backed Hurley’s ruling that the case should not be dismissed before trial.
Both the trial judge and the appeals court listed several pieces of evidence presented by lawyers for Adams that “contradicted and substantially undermined [Custer’s] account of the events.”
There was no redness or bruising on Custer’s neck and no DNA evidence that Adams had grabbed him, the judges wrote.
And while Custer testified he shot Adams inside or near the open door of Adams’ truck, the judges said Adams’ lawyers presented forensic evidence that indicates Adams was actually shot while he was standing at the rear of his truck. The trial judge wrote that Custer’s testimony was “at complete odds with forensic, blood and ballistic evidence.”
Custer initially said he shot Adams after the first scuffle and alleged choking attempt and failed to mention, until later interviews, his claim that he shot after a second scuffle, the judges wrote.
Testimony from another law enforcement officer who drove by and saw both men a maximum of 90 seconds before the shooting also appears to contradict Custer’s testimony that Adams was hostile, aggressive, screaming and “acting like a lunatic” from the outset of the encounter, the judges wrote.
The other officer testified that nothing appeared to be wrong when he drove by.
Taking the evidence in the light most favorable to Adams, as required by law, jurors could potentially find that Adams was not shot in the way Custer described “but instead that he was shot at the back of his truck by [Custer], who had no reason to believe that Adams was armed or otherwise posed any danger,” the judges wrote.
They ruled that the case should go to a jury to decide on whose version is more credible.
Teri Barbera, a spokeswoman for the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office and Bradshaw, declined to comment Friday on the pending lawsuit.
In 2016, several lawsuits against the agency and its employees ended with financial awards to victims.
After a trial in federal court against the Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Adams Lin, jurors awarded more than $23.1 million to Dontrell Stephens, who was shot and paralyzed. The amount was later lowered to $22.4 million and the agency is appealing the verdict.
And the Sheriff’s Office agreed to pay several large separate settlements during the year, including:
$1.7 million to the parents of a mentally ill 18-year-old, Michael Camberdella, who was shot and killed by Deputy William Goldstein in West Boynton.
$550,000 to settle an excessive force and wrongful arrest lawsuit filed by retired Deputy U.S. Marshal Shawn Conboy against the agency and three deputies.
$562,000 to the family of Matthew Pollow, a mentally ill 28-year-old who was fatally shot by a deputy in West Boca.
$450,000 to the guardianship of Jeremy Hutton, a then-17-year-old with Down syndrome who was shot by a deputy at a Riviera Beach intersection in 2010.