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February 13, 2004
Million-Dollar Award
Court Rules Cop’s Shooter Must Pay
By Mark Daly
A Police Officer who filed a civil lawsuit against the small-time
criminal who allegedly shot him has received a $1 million judgment from a Queens
Supreme Court judge.
Justice Patricia P. Satterfield Feb. 2 ordered the man suspected in the shooting,
William Hodges, to pay the amount in damages to Detective David Gonzalez, who
was permanently wounded in the Nov. 12, 1999 incident.
Shot During Struggle
Mr. Gonzalez, a parole officer at the time, was shot in the hip by his own
service revolver as he and Mr. Hodges struggled in the vestibule of a Queens apartment
building. The officer now walks with a limp and has recurrent pain from the bullet
fragments still lodged in his body.
Mr. Hodges, described by police as a small-time crack dealer, was jailed and
charged with grabbing the revolver from the officer’s holster. But another
Queens judge, Laura Blackburne, dismissed the case less than three years later
after ruling he’d been denied a speedy trial.
The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association is appealing that decision, and
backed Mr. Gonzalez in his civil suit. “This thug shot and tried to kill
a police officer and the courts let him out on a technicality,” said Patrick
J. Lynch, the union’s president. “The PBA will use every legal means
at our disposal to make him pay for the damage he’s done.”
Justice Satterfield approved a default judgment for Mr. Gonzalez last October
after Mr. Hodges failed to respond to the lawsuit, which had been filed in March.
Term of Award
The judge last week awarded Mr. Gonzalez $250,000 for past pain and suffering
and $750,000 for future pain and suffering, based on testimony from the officer
and his orthopedic surgeon. Mr. Gonzalez had sought $2.5 million in damages, including
a $50,000 annual payment for the next 50 years.
Mr. Hodges appeared in a different courtroom in Queens Feb. 5 to be formally
charged with biting the leg of Police Officer Benedict Vitale in Jamaica Hospital’s
emergency room in July. According to the Queens District Attorney’s Office,
Mr. Hodges and his mother got into an altercation with police because they felt
they had waited too long for medical treatment.
Mr. Hodges, 32, is out on $100,000 bail, but Mr. Gonzalez’s attorney,
Greg Longworth, will seek a restraining order to prevent the return of any cash
portion of that amount.
‘We’re Not Going Away’
“We’re looking to get access to any bank account he may have, and
to begin garnishing his salary if he’s employed,” Mr. Longworth said.
“He’s going to have to deal with us for a long time to come.”
Last week’s ruling marked the second recent civil victory for an NYPD
officer. In August, Police Officer Liza Paredes received a $3.4 million judgment
against Brian Frisbie, an ex-con, for knee and internal injuries she suffered
in 1994 when she responded to a domestic violence call and Mr. Frisbie tackled
her down a flight of stairs. Mr. Frisbie was convicted of assault and resisting
arrest and sentenced to five year’s probation for the incident.
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