Video evidence released of 2014 deputy shooting death of Gregory Hill, Jr in Fort Pierce
St. Lucie County Sheriffs investigators video following then-Deputy Christopher Newman's fatal shooting of Gregory Hill on Jan. 14, 2014.
CONTRIBUTED VIDEO BY ST. LUCIE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
FORT PIERCE The family of Gregory Hill Jr., who was fatally shot by a St. Lucie County sheriffs deputy in 2014, walked away Wednesday from a second civil trial with even less than the $4 they were awarded by a different jury four years ago.
After 12 hours of deliberations over two days, a jury of seven women seated at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce returned a verdict exonerating St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara and the deputy who fatally shot Hill inside the garage of his Fort Pierce home on Jan. 14, 2014.
The verdict means no money damages were awarded to Hills relatives, including his three children and mother Viola Bryant, who filed a federal civil rights lawsuit after her sons death.
The lawsuit contended the deputyviolated Hill's Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force and that the shooting resulted in his wrongful death in violation of Florida law.
Hill, 30, who worked at a Coca-Cola warehouse, was shot by former Deputy Christopher Newman, as he and another deputy responded to a complaint about loud music at Hills Avenue Q home, across the street from Frances K. Sweet Magnet School.
The seven-day civil trial that began July 19, comes two years after an attorney for Hills family convinced a federal appeals court to throw out a $4 verdict awarded during a civil trial held in 2018.
The $4 verdict, which sparked national headlines and stunned Hills family, was later reduced to 4 cents, court records show.
Specifically, the jury on Wednesday rejected a claim of excessive force against Newman, voting that he did not intentionally commit acts that violated Hills right to be free from the use of excessive or unreasonable force.
Jurors also cleared Mascara of a negligence claim.
Mascara, in a statement issued after the trial, lauded Wednesdays verdict.
We appreciate the jurys time and effort listening to and evaluating the evidence in this case and coming to the only reasonable conclusion that our deputy acted properly in the course and scope of his very difficult job, Mascara said. The loss of life is always a tragedy, but the split-second decision made here was a direct response to the actions taken by Mr. Hill.
Court records show that Newman and Deputy Christopher Lopez arrived at Hills home in the 1500 block of Avenue Q just as students across the street were being let out and heard loud music coming from his garage. They knocked on the garage door and when no one responded, Newman knocked on the front door.
He heard the music get louder and turned to see the garage door opening. Hill stood facing out of the garage with his left hand on the door and his right hand down.
Newman drew his gun, and as the garage door started to go down, fired four times toward Hill, tracking upward.
When a SWAT team arrived soon after and went inside the garage, members confirmed Hill was dead and found a gun in his back pocket.
He had been shot three times: once in the head and twice in the abdomen.
Toxicology reports from Hills autopsy showed his blood-alcohol level was nearly 0.40 percent, almost five times the 0.08 percent legal limit to drive, sheriffs officials said at the time.
Newman was later cleared of any wrongdoing by a St. Lucie County grand jury.
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Attorney John M. Phillips, of Jacksonville, who has represented Hills family since the shooting, called the verdict heartbreaking.
After court, Phillips said Hill had been listening to Drake on his garage stereo and less than a minute after deputies arrived, he was shot three times through his closed garage door by an officer with a history of violative conduct.
An unloaded gun was found in his pocket, Phillips noted, with no evidence it was ever out of his pocket no time, no DNA, no blood, no fingerprints, nothing.
Phillips said a lead homicide investigator for the Sheriffs Office testified his job was to corroborate the officers stories and that he completely deferred to the officers and left evidence behind because of it.
This trial, Phillips said, was about the thick blue line which exists in St. Lucie County Florida.
He noted too, that after five hours of deliberations, jurors sent a note to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon stating we are deadlocked. We are unable to come to a unanimous decision.
Cannon encouraged them to continue deliberating.
The panel at one point asked to check the 9 mm handgun found on Hill to see how it fits in the denim shorts back pocket.
Jurors a few hours later signaled they had reached an agreement.
The gun found on Hill was a key issue cited in 2020 by a panel of three judges seated on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeal which ordered a new trial.
The appeals court order noted that during the first trial in 2018, two central disputes involved whether Hill had a gun in his hand when he opened his garage door, and whether it was possible for Hill to place the gun in his back pocket before he was shot.
The appeal order also concluded that U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg had abused her discretion by allowing jurors to hear Hill was on probation at the time of his death.
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Mascara, who said, each day law enforcement officers are forced to make difficult life and death decisions, expressed hope that Wednesdays verdict brings an end to this long and difficult case.
Phillips though, vowed to appeal, again.
As lawyers, we are taught to always respect a verdict. We obviously disagree and dont understand how they were deadlocked and then took 11 hours to reject Mr. Hills plea for justice, he said. Weve fought for eight years and arent stopping.
Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, and is writer and co-host of Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.
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jury finds no excessive force used in 2014 death of Gregory Hill Jr - TCPalm