Judge denies Sheriff’s motions for new trial in racial discrimination lawsuit that awarded $15 million to Deputy
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Judge Gloria Walker has denied motions from Sheriff Chad Scott requesting a new trial or a reduction in the damages awarded by a jury to Deputy Kevin Davis for racial discrimination.
On February 7, an Alachua County Jury awarded over $15 million to Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Davis, who had filed a lawsuit alleging that he was denied promotions due to racial discrimination and was retaliated against after he filed discrimination complaints. The jury awarded $115,724 in damages to compensate for loss of wages and benefits plus $15 million for emotional pain and mental anguish.
Read more about the trial here.
On May 1, attorneys for Sheriff Scott filed a motion asking Judge Walker to let them amend previous motions (filed in February) to set aside the jury’s verdict and enter her own judgment, order a new trial, or reduce the damages awarded by the jury. The case is also being appealed to the 1st District Court of Appeals, but that court is awaiting orders on the post-trial motions.
Scott’s attorneys argued that witnesses should not have been allowed to provide testimony about an alleged criminal investigation into former Sheriff Clovis Watson and his administration, stating that the only purpose of that testimony was “to suggest to the jury that the Watson administration had engaged in some unspecified criminal conduct” and that the evidence was irrelevant to the claims of racial discrimination “and devastatingly prejudicial to the Sheriff.”
On March 27, Scott’s attorneys learned that 3rd Judicial Circuit State Attorney John Durrett had notified the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) that he would not prosecute Watson on two criminal charges because of “insufficient evidence.”
Read more about Durrett’s letter here.
Scott’s attorneys wrote that they had made a motion before the trial to exclude any evidence related to the FDLE investigation, but they did not know at that time or when they filed the February post-trial motions that the investigation had concluded. The attorneys argued that information now available from the investigation supports their pre-trial motions and “amount[s] to new grounds that were not available prior.”
Although the hearing on the motions is scheduled for July 15, Judge Gloria Walker issued an order on June 24, denying all of Scott’s motions.
In her order, Judge Walker wrote that the racial discrimination case “was not about the criminal investigation against the Former Sheriff Clovis Watson” and “[t]his Court is not convinced that the new information regarding the criminal investigation against the Former Sheriff, Clovis Watson, would have made a difference during the trial, particularly since the trial was based on allegations regarding race discrimination.”
No matter the outcome of the appeals, racism doesn’t discriminate.
That’s a fact.
But racists do discriminate. DEI, as practiced by the left, did discriminate.
They thought Clovis was going down, and they didn’t want any evidence against him to sink them too, otherwise they wouldn’t have moved to exclude evidence from that investigation. Now they’re disappointed that a lack of evidence to pursue a case against Clovis personally can’t also be evidence that the judgment against the department was an overreach.
Trying to have their cake and eat it too.
That is an awfully large amount of money(?)
I agree that the $15 million mental-emotional judgment is excessive, though $115,000 only compensates for the past and not for what the officer might have rightfully made during his career. Tort reform in Florida could use some more reform.
Still, they can’t reasonably ask that evidence they thought might convict Clovis be excluded because it might make them look bad, but ask that lack of evidence against Clovis be considered because it might benefit them.
When are they going to figure out that district 8 has an “agreement” between judges & Attorneys… you have to be in the club.
An external federal investigation into the Florida judiciary is long overdue.
Corruption at it’s finest.
No payment at all to the Deputy.
ACTY, PAY THAT DEPUTY NOTHING !
$15 million to one person for a fake claim.
NO.
What a waste of money !
Fake claim????? Read the lawsuit chump.
Do you actually believe that he/she/it can read?
Racism is alive and well in Alachua County!! It’s so sad to see. This claim doesn’t look fake to me. Deputy was awarded $115,000 AND 15 million. You must not be able to read or you just run that pie hole before having all the facts!
Are you a poet or something?
You are so wrong. One person gets only $10 million.
The attorneys get $5 million.
Does that mean he’s replaced Ed as the highest paid County employee?
What goes around, comes around. You can’t be race-conscious without paying the consequences, either way. You cannot be “defund the police” and then disagree with a $15 million verdict against you.
ACLUSPLCDNC 👹👿🤡💩👺
There are dozens of officers, medical staff, myself included that suffered at the aco jail due to racism and DEI nonsense .
Well this is working out well, criminal investigations against the former sheriff and a law suit for discrimination against the current sheriff both of whom are black. Strange, I don’t remember any of this type stuff before.