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Attorneys for Sterling's family not ready to head to court following rejected settlement proposal

3 years 6 months 2 weeks ago Thursday, September 10 2020 Sep 10, 2020 September 10, 2020 7:09 PM September 10, 2020 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - Just one day after the Metro Council rejected the $5 million settlement proposal in Alton Sterling's wrongful death case, the Sterling family's attorneys respond.

"Blane Salamoni put a gun to Alton Sterling's head when he had his hands up, begging to know what was happening, which escalated the entire situation," Chris Stewart, Sterling family attorney said.

At Wednesday's meeting, Metro Council voted 6 to 4 in favor of rejecting the $5 million settlement in the excessive force lawsuit.

Attorneys for the family claim the Baton Rouge officer who shot and killed Sterling, Blane Salamoni, had a tarnished record. They also say his fellow officers discussed Salamoni's behavior.

"His own officers were calling him borderline nut job or psycho," Stewart said.

Sterling's death caught on cell phone video sparked weeks of protests, which could likely end up in court for the jury to observe and make decisions from.

"The facts of this case are so horrible for the city that we'll present our facts to anybody and we're prepared to present it to a jury," Michael Adams, another Sterling family attorney said

Adams also says the four law firms representing Sterling's children say they have already billed $500,000 in legal fees working on the case.

"The problem is that the farther we go down the road, the more expensive this case is going to be," Adams said.

The city-parish attorney believes a $5 million settlement is too much and some council members believe a trial will be more justified than a settlement.

The Sterling case is scheduled to go trial in March of next year.

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