Family of exonerated Broward man files suit over traffic stop death
An exonerated Black man who spent more than 16 years behind bars after he was wrongfully convicted of armed robbery in Broward was shot to death by a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop in 2023. His family is now petitioning a federal court for millions.
The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of Georgia on Tuesday, names as defendants Buck Aldridge, the deputy who shot 53year-old Leonard Allan Cure, and Jim Proctor, the sheriff of Camden County, for the “unlawful” killing of Cure.
The legal action was brought forth by Cure’s mother Mary Cure. Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump is on the team representing the exonerated Dania Beach man’s family.
The Cure family is seeking more than $16 million in damages, citing emotional distress, humiliation and pain and suffering.
Attorneys in the filing allege that Aldridge committed acts “that deprived Mr. Cure of his rights under the Constitution and the laws of the State of Georgia by using excessive and deadly force against Mr. Cure.”
AN ALARMING HISTORY?
The court documents also state that Proctor “knew or should have known” that Aldridge had “a propensity for violence and had a history of using unlawful force and excessive force.” They listed out several previous incidents involving Aldridge.
In 2014, the deputy received a warning for violating Kingsland Police Department’s use of force policy;
In May 2017, he was suspended for three days, placed on probation for a year and ordered to completely remedial use of force training for violating Kingsland Police’s use of force policy;
In August 2017, the deputy was fired for violating the same department’s use of force policy;
In June 2022, Aldridge “intentionally” struck an unarmed man who wasn’t resisting arrest and tased him twice.
The lawsuit also alleges that Proctor didn’t fire other officers accused of excessive use of force and states that the sheriff was “deliberately indifferent to claims of excessive force by his employees.”
“Defendant Aldridge’s actions and use of force... were also malicious and/or involved reckless, callous, and deliberate indifference to Mr. Cure’s federally protected rights,” attorneys say in the filing.
‘STEP OUT! STEP OUT!’
On Oct. 16, 2023, Aldridge spotted a gray pickup truck in the far left lane zooming past his vehicle on Interstate 95 in Camden County, Georgia. Dash and body-worn camera footage shows the deputy stopping Cure for speeding around 7:30 a.m.
“Step out! Step out! Get out! Get out!” Aldridge yells as soon as he sets his feet out of his police vehicle and as he approaches Cure’s pickup truck near I-95’s mile marker 9.
Cure then steps out, and the deputy tells him to put his hands against the pickup truck, according to the videos.
Cure, standing with his hands by his side, says he isn’t going to do it. When Aldridge tries to grab one of his arms, saying “put your damn hands back here,” Cure moves his arm away.
Aldridge proceeds to take his Taser out of the holster and points it at Cure. At some point, the deputy orders Cure to put his hands behind his back, grabbing one of Cure’s wrists before he pulls away, the vidoes show.
After Aldridge tells Cure again to put his hands behind his back, the man points toward the sky with one hand, according to the videos. That’s when the deputy shoots him with the Taser while repeating the order.
Cure subsequently turns around, starts grabbing the Taser’s wires and ultimately the deputy’s hand holding the weapon. They begin to fight, with the deputy putting Cure in a headlock, the videos reveals. Cure, however, pushes him against the back of the pickup truck.
The deputy starts hitting Cure with a baton but the man continues to push his head further back, according to the videos. As Cure seems to have overpowered Aldridge, the deputy takes out his firearm and shoots Cure.
The shot or shots can’t be heard in the video provided by the sheriff’s office. Cure falls down.
Attorneys representing Cure’s family previously stated that the trauma of being wrongfully imprisoned for more than a decade and a half, combined with the deputy’s behavior, may have “triggered” Cure.
In December 2020,
Cure was exonerated after Broward’s Conviction Review Unit concluded the case against Cure “is so weak that it gives rise to a reasonable doubt as to his culpability — and that he’s most likely innocent.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in June 2023 signed a claims bill granting Cure $817,000 in compensation for his wrongful conviction.
Cure had moved to Georgia after his exoneration to start a new life.