At least two of the men suing Atlanta and its police department over the botched raid of the Eagle have received settlement offers from the city, according to the Atlanta Progressive News.
The surprising move by City Hall comes as the lawsuit has become increasingly contentious over allegations that the city and police department have destroyed evidence in the case and delayed the discovery process in the lawsuit.
The Atlanta Progressive News, which broke the story about the raid in September 2009, reported Friday that two plaintiffs in the lawsuit received offers to settle the lawsuit. Other people in the case have also received settlement offers ranging from $8,000 to $20,000, according to APN.
Two of the Plaintiffs confirmed receipt of the letters; however, APN has granted them anonymity due to a confidentiality agreement which accompanied the letters.
According to the sources, the letters proposed various monetary settlements to each Plaintiff based on the circumstances of each individual case; and in each case, a range of dollar figures was proposed. Variables included whether the individuals were wrongfully handcuffed, whether they had guns stuck in their face, whether they were verbally or physically abused, and other factors.
Amounts ranged from about 8,000 to almost 20,000 per person.
Other conditions of the settlement include that the Atlanta Police Department would have to change its policies and procedures regarding raids going forward to preclude such an incident from happening anywhere again in the City of Atlanta [especially, arresting an entire bar of 62 patrons despite lack of probable cause, instead of targeting the arrests to those suspected of wrongdoing, if any]; and the City would have to issue multiple apologies.
Daniel Grossman, one of three attorneys who filed the lawsuit in November 2009 and is often its public face, declined comment on Friday, citing an order put in place by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Batten. Reese McCranie, a spokesperson for Mayor Kasim Reed (photo), could also not be reached Friday.
Last month, Reed announced a blue ribbon commission of attorneys to mediate the lawsuit, but has provided few details since.
