Council approves no-fault settlement
http://oas.uniontri b.com/RealMedia/ ads/click_ nx.ads/www. uniontrib. com/clickability @Right) Foley to get $5.5 million
By Dana Littlefield, Janine Zúñiga and Karen Kucher
STAFF WRITERS
July 8, 2008
CORONADO – Former Chargers linebacker Steve Foley, whose football career
ended when he was shot by an off-duty Coronado police officer, settled his
lawsuit against the city and the officer for $5.5 million, attorneys said
yesterday. The Coronado City Council unanimously approved the award in closed session yesterday afternoon. "The City Council is satisfied that this dispute is resolved," Mayor Tom Smisek said.
Foley, who was wounded by Officer Aaron Mansker, formally agreed to resolve
the case July 2, two weeks into a civil trial in Superior Court. The amount
of the settlement was not disclosed when the agreement was first announced.
The settlement is a no-fault agreement that resolves all past, present and
future claims made against the city by Foley. The city's $100,000 deductible
will be applied to the settlement and insurance will cover the rest. Each side
will pay its own attorneys fees and trial costs.
Mansker is indemnified under the government code, so none of the settlement
will come out of the officer's pocket.
For Foley, the lawsuit was about vindication, his agent said yesterday.
The agent, David Levine of Weston, Fla., said Foley does not intend to talk
about the settlement with the media.
"What people don't realize is that this was a traumatic experience for him,"
Levine said. "He does not have a desire to talk about it."
Foley agreed to the sum of the settlement, but Levine indicated that his
client was not necessarily pleased by it.
"They say a good settlement is one when both parties go away unhappy,"
Levine said. The agreement calls for the city to pay Foley $1.2 million 30 days after he
signs the agreement, which is expected Thursday, Coronado City Attorney Steve
Boehmer said. Fifty percent of the remaining amount will be paid in October and the other 50 percent in November.
said the city spent $688,000 before the case went to trial. He
didn't provide costs after the trial began.
Foley, 32, sued Mansker and the city after he was shot in the back of his
left knee and hip the morning of Sept. 3, 2006, during a confrontation with
Mansker near Foley's Poway home.
Foley later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge and was
placed on five years' probation.
Foley's attorneys contended during the civil trial that Mansker, a
23-year-old rookie at the time of the shooting, violated his training and department
policy when, instead of just following Foley, he decided to get the football
player to pull over.
Boehmer said Mansker returned to regular duty six months after the incident,
when he was cleared of any criminal charges related to the shooting by an
internal investigation and the District Attorney's Office. Mansker remains a
Coronado police officer.
Coronado's policy on similar situations was revised shortly after the
shooting to read that off-duty officers may follow and report, but they must wait
for a marked vehicle and uniformed officers to arrive, Boehmer said.
The day the settlement agreement was announced in San Diego Superior Court,
Foley had been scheduled to testify. He was clearly upset in the courtroom
and glared at Mansker, who was seated near the door of the courtroom.
Jordan Cohen, one of Foley's attorneys, said that Foley was mad at Mansker,
not about the settlement,
"This is the end of a chapter in a way," Cohen said yesterday. "It's a very
difficult decision to resolve a case. It's also difficult to let it run and
go to a jury."
The settlement was reached with the help of retired federal Judge Lawrence
Irving, who acted as mediator.
Boehmer said Coronado's initial offer was $3.5 million. He said Foley's
attorney countered with $9.5 million. He said both parties agreed to $5.5 million
about 9:30 p.m. the day before the settlement was announced.
Among the issues that were discussed, Cohen said, was evidence that would
likely be presented in court once Coronado presented the bulk of its evidence.
Some of that testimony would have focused on Foley's DUI conviction and
possibly his previous arrests.
Foley pleaded guilty to drunken driving in Louisiana in 1999.
"The degree to which he would have been responsible would act to reduce his
award," Cohen said.
Shortly after the settlement was announced, Foley returned to Houston where
he lives with his 11-year-old daughter.
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Staff writer Jerry Magee contributed to this report.
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Dana Littlefield: (619) 542-4590; _dana.littlefield@ uniontrib. com_
(http://www.signonsa ndiego.com/ uniontrib/ 20080708/ MAILTO:dana. littlefield@ uniontrib. com)
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