GAINESVILLE - Lawyers for a Gainesville man that was allegedly beaten by Hall County jailers while he was handcuffed last summer have reached a settlement with the parties involved.
Mark Begnaud with Horsley-Begnaud LLC, a civil rights law firm out of Atlanta, said his client, Kendrick Goss, won the $50,000 settlement last week.
"Initially, there were only three named defendants, there was Sgt. Kenny Lane, and then two other jailers," said Begnaud. "We amended the complaint a little while later to add another three deputies who were involved for both their direct acts and failing to intervene to stop the beating."
Begnaud said his client reached a global settlement against all of the defendants. "It was the same insurance company that ultimately was funding the defense for all defendants, so we reached a global settlement with all of the defendants for $50,000."
In June 2014, Begnaud said Goss was punched and beaten while he was handcuffed by a number of jailers. Afterwards, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigated the incident and Sgt. Lane was terminated. The Hall County Sheriff's Office stands by their decision to terminate Lane. “The Hall County Sheriff’s Office took appropriate action by placing the employee on Administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The employee was terminated shortly thereafter.”
Begnaud also said his firm was representing Andronico Pedraza in his lawsuit against jailer David Pirkle. Pirkle was fired and criminally prosecuted for striking Pedraza on the back of the head while he was restrained. The civil suit remains pending, however, Pirkle plead guilty to the criminal charges. Begnaud says the county was also sued in that incident, though through another lawyer.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/9/337080/gainesville-man-reaches-settlement-with-former-hall-co-jailer