Five Gainesville, Florida residents wounded by gunfire at a 2006 concert by the Florida rapper known as “Plies” will share in a $85,280 verdict handed down by a jury this week.
After seven days of testimony and eight hours of deliberation that ended Wednesday, jurors determined the following damages should be paid: Michael Lamar Daymon, $50,535; Billy Dee Williams, $15,000; Edwin Devasco Faircloth, $13,500; Steven Jean-Jacques, $4,760; and Dorian Shannel Johnson, $1,485.
The shootings took place on July 2, 2006, when Algernod Lanier Washington, who raps under the name Plies, was performing at a now-defunct nightclub at 238 W. University Ave, according to court and police records.
Police said a fight erupted in the sold-out crowd of about 1,000 people shortly before closing time when Plies’ performance ran long and his microphone was cut off.
The men accused of firing the shots included the rapper’s brother, Ronell Lawrence Levatte, 33, of Cape Coral, and Tory D. Carnegie, 23, of Fort Myers. Both have received prison sentences.
The lawsuit listed Washington and Levatte as defendants.
Christopher Chestnut, the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of those who were injured, originally said he was seeking $10 million from the rapper and the others named in the suit.
After the verdict was announced, Washington’s attorney, Robert Rush of Gainesville, told The Sun that the plaintiffs would have been better off financially if they had accepted a settlement instead of taking the case to trial.
“The settlement would have been four times what the verdict was,” Rush said.
Chestnut said he expects to file an appeal over one part of the verdict. The jurors voted not to award any punitive damages in the case.
Source: Gainesville Sun
Why didn’t he just settle and save himself money..or guess maybe the payout court cost and lawyers fees came to less than what the settlement would have been?