Follow the bouncing blame: “Pleasantville police officer Aaron Hess, who shot and killed Pace University football player Danroy Henry, Jr., is suing a local liquor store for allegedly providing Henry with alcohol. … Hess has been cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury but the U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the case and Henry’s family has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Hess and the police department.” [News12, NY]
3 Comments
Apparently, Henry hit Hess with a car and broke Hess’s knee cap. Hess is suing the liquor store under the theory that a store that breaks liquor laws by selling to an under-aged person is liable for everything that person does while intoxicated on that alcohol.
Assuming that argument holds water despite the intervening illegal behavior of Hess, doesn’t a person who takes employment as a police officer assume the risk of being injured on the job? That’s what all their increased benefits, early retirement, training, cool police toys, etc. are all about.
(PS the News 12 link isn’t free.)
Seems like this should be dismissed for lack of standing, and Rule 11 sanctions should be assessed.
Henry deserved to get shot because he assaulted the officer with a deadly weapon, a vehicle, and inflicted a significant injury on him. While I have no problem with fining a liquor store for selling alcohol to an underaged or clearly intoxicated customer, to make the store strictly liable for any act committed by that customer subsequent to the sale is clearly absurd. I also speculate, given the proclivities of the Holder-led Justice Department, that if Mr. Hess were caucasian and the officer were African American there would be no interest in this matter on the part of the Feds.