A federal jury on Tuesday awarded $8.25 million to a developmentally disabled girl who accused a Colorado sheriff of driving her to his home throughout a jail transport and sexually assaulting her earlier than dropping her off at jail.
The jury discovered former Sedgwick County Sheriff Thomas Hanna liable of extreme power, merciless and strange punishment and false imprisonment and awarded the lady $3.25 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, her lawyer, David Fisher stated. The decision got here after a two-day trial in U.S. District Court docket for the District of Colorado.
“When the choose was studying the decision [the woman] stored repeating, ‘Oh my god, I received my justice again, I received my justice again, they believed me,’ time and again,” Fisher stated.
Hanna was beforehand acquitted of sexual assault, kidnapping and soliciting a prostitute however convicted of official misconduct in reference to the incident.
He was sheriff on Aug. 10, 2016, when he determined to move the lady, who was in custody, from the Sedgwick County Jail to the Logan County Jail in his private pickup truck — a violation of division coverage. However as a substitute of going on to the jail, he introduced the lady to his home, the place she stated he provided her $60 to have intercourse with him, which she refused.
The lady claimed he then ordered her to undress, took off a few of his personal garments and sexually assaulted her. Afterwards, he warned her to not inform anybody or she would go to jail for the remainder of her life, the lady alleged within the lawsuit.
Hanna then took the lady to the Logan County Jail and put $20 in her commissary. He was arrested after a deputy occurred to see the sheriff’s pickup truck parked outdoors his dwelling through the time of the jail transport and have become suspicious.
Hanna was charged and later acquitted of sexual assault, kidnapping and soliciting a prostitute. He was convicted of official misconduct. Hanna admitted to taking the disabled girl to his dwelling however stated he simply needed to privately speak to her about crime info. He denied sexually assaulting her. He declined to take a polygraph.
He was sentenced to seven months in jail with work launch on the official misconduct conviction, which additionally prevents him from working in Colorado regulation enforcement.
Hanna’s lawyer, Matt Buck, declined to touch upon the decision Wednesday and stated Hanna additionally declined to remark. Hanna couldn't be reached.
The lady introduced the federal civil rights lawsuit in 2018. She initially additionally sued the county and the sheriff’s division, however a choose eliminated them as defendants within the case earlier than it went to trial. Fisher stated he expects the lady will solely be capable of acquire a small portion of the $8.25 million from Hanna.