BENTON - U.S. Magistrate Judge Reona Daly recommended default judgment of $825,035.97 on a claim that East St. Louis police used excessive force on Dorian Hendricks of Belleville.
The city didn’t answer a complaint Hendricks filed last October and Daly held a hearing on damages in May with Hendricks as sole witness.
She filed a report on July 16 but lacked the city’s consent to magistrate jurisdiction so she assigned it to Senior District Judge Phil Gilbert.
Attorney Steven Fluhr of St. Louis County filed the complaint against the city, the police department, detective Jason Hicks, chief Kendall Perry and assistant chief Nick Mueller.
Fluhr claimed that on Oct. 25, 2022, Hendricks drove away from a fight at Da Beno Nite Club.
He claimed Hicks, working security at the club, followed in an unmarked police vehicle.
He claimed Hendricks followed a road to a dead end; Hicks jumped out, didn’t identify himself, and shot at the vehicle Hendricks drove.
He claimed Hendricks reversed and drove past Hicks who kept shooting.
He claimed shots struck Hendricks’s left leg and he pulled over.
Fluhr didn’t identify any other occupant but his complaint suggested a change of driver.
He claimed Hendricks crossed to Missouri and his parents took him to a hospital.
He claimed Hicks’s actions were atrocious, intolerable, extreme and outrageous.
He claimed Perry and Mueller shared liability because they tolerated excessive force, ratified unconstitutional acts and assisted in covering up bad actions.
He claimed they instituted a policy against working security for Da Beno but they knew Hicks worked there on duty and they tolerated it.
He sought damages for pain, partial loss of use of the leg, loss of income, distress, anguish, humiliation and disfigurement.
Hendricks served Perry last Oct. 25 and he accepted service for Hicks and Mueller.
On that date an executive assistant accepted service for the city and the police department.
Federal procedure requires a defendant to file an answer within 21 days and Fluhr waited two months before moving for entry of default.
The clerk entered it on Jan. 2 and on that date Fluhr moved for default judgment.
He sought $1,500,000 in actual damages and $500,000 in punitive damages.
He noted that Daly could hold a hearing and she decided to hold one, “in order to ascertain the amount of damages with reasonable certainty.”
Hendricks testified that physical therapy improved his ambulation but did not help his pain.
He said he had two long lasting issues from the gunshot, nightmares and excruciating pain.
He said he constantly felt a burning sensation in his foot, worse when he walks; he said he had nightmares every night and that the only thing he could remember was the sound of gunshots, three or four.
Daly’s report recommended $750,000 for pain and suffering based on his testimony regarding physical and emotional trauma.
“Plaintiff became very emotional at the hearing when he described his injuries and saw a picture of his leg which depicted the bullet holes,” she wrote.
“The undersigned also considered plaintiff’s testimony that he still has pain in his foot and frequent nightmares.”
Daly limited the award to past and present, finding he failed to prove he would suffer pain and suffering all his life.
She awarded $48,303 for medical bills and $26,732.97 for lost wages.
She found Hendricks made $1,733.33 a month working for FedEx prior to the incident but lost the job because he couldn’t bear weight.
She found he didn’t return to work for 15 months and at time of trial made $18 an hour loading and pushing a cart for E-Trailer in Wentzville, Missouri.
She found pain caused him to move slowly and he feared he would be fired.
She denied punitive damages, finding they are not routinely awarded in default judgments and Hendricks presented no evidence regarding them.
She found allegations regarding Hicks suggested punitive damages might be warranted but she could not rely on allegations in the complaint to determine damages.
She gave the parties 14 days to object.
Former St. Clair County chief circuit judge John Baricevic of the Chartham and Baricevic firm in Belleville is city attorney for East St. Louis.