Inclusion Daily Express -- State Police Agrees To Pay $1 Million To Erin Hamley's Estate

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State Police Agrees To Pay $1 Million To Erin Hamley's Estate
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
March 5, 2007

SPRINGDALE, ARKANSAS--The Arkansas State Police department has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of Joseph Erin Hamley, an innocent man that was shot and killed last year by a state trooper who mistook him for an escaped prisoner.

According to the Morning News, the department agreed to pay $1 million to the estate of 21-year-old Hamley, who had cerebral palsy, an intellectual disability, and a psychiatric disability.

The newspaper reported that before the money can be paid the Legislature must first pass a $1 million appropriation. Then a number of legislative committees must approve the agreement, in which the state admits no wrongdoing in Hamley's death.

Last spring, a Benton County special grand jury indicted former Arkansas State Trooper Larry Norman on misdemeanor negligent homicide charges related to Hamley's March 7, 2006 shooting death.

The grand jury concluded that the unarmed Hamley was likely following Norman's orders to roll over onto his stomach when the trooper fired the fatal shot. The panel also expressed concern about a lack of communication and coordination between the state officers and county sheriff's deputies that were on the scene.

Norman's trial has been rescheduled twice. A pretrial hearing is now set for March 26.

Norman was granted an early medical retirement last summer.

Related:
"Erin Hamley: Innocent Man Shot By State Trooper" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/crime/ar/hamley.htm

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