Cox Case Settled For $45M

by THOMAS BREEN and LAURA GLESBY The new haven independent

Mayor Elicker on Saturday: “We wanted to make sure we made a statement and did right by Randy and his family.”

The City of New Haven has agreed to pay $45 million to Richard “Randy” Cox to end a lawsuit stemming from paralyzing injuries the 36-year-old Black New Havener suffered while in police custody — marking the largest municipal settlement in a police misconduct case in this country’s history.
Mayoral spokesperson Lenny Speiller sent out an email press release about the historic settlement late Friday night on behalf of both the Elicker administration and Cox’s attorneys, including national civil rights lawyer Ben Crump. A spokesperson for Crump sent out a separate email press release heralding the settlement soon thereafter. 
“As the largest settlement in a police misconduct case in our nation’s history, this settlement sends a message to the country that we know we must be better than this,” Crump and Cox’s fellow local attorneys, Lou Rubano and R.J. Weber, are quoted as saying in the press release.
Speiller wrote that the agreement came out of a settlement conference that the city and Cox’s attorneys held earlier on Friday with Magistrate Judge Maria Garcia of the U.S. District Court in New Haven in a case related to Cox’s June 19, 2022, arrest and mishandling by city police.
With the judge’s help, the parties agreed to a $45 million settlement “to resolve all claims against the City of New Haven,” Speiller wrote. “Of the $45 million, $30 million of the total settlement will be covered by the City’s insurance, and the remainder will be paid by the City.”

The settlement brings to an end a $100 million civil lawsuit that Cox and his family brought in federal court back in September. That lawsuit against the city, the police department, and city police officers Betsy Segui, Oscar Diaz, Jocelyn Lavandier, Luis Rivera, and Ronald Pressley sought damages for the officers’ alleged violations of Cox’s civil rights following his arrest on June 19, 2022.
The settlement also comes several days after the the city’s police commission voted to fire Officers Rivera and Lavandier, and several months after all five involved officers were arrested for reckless endangerment and “cruelty to persons.” All five arrested cops have pleaded not guilty to those charges. (Segui and Diaz are slated to come before the police commission for a termination vote later this month. Pressley has already retired.)
“The action by the New Haven Board of Police Commissioners to terminate the two officers involved in the arrest that resulted in Randy Cox’s paralysis reflected a commitment to accountability and justice,” Cox’s attorneys said in Friday’s press release. “This settlement makes a strong statement that police departments and their municipalities will be accountable for ensuring that police officers honor the lives of those they are sworn to serve and protect.”
“While nothing can ever return Randy’s life to the way it was prior to this incident,” Mayor Justin Elicker is quoted as saying in Friday’s press release, “we trust that this settlement will allow him to receive the support and medical care he needs to move forward. The City of New Haven will continue to do everything we can to assist him in his journey.”
Mayor: Wanted To Do Right By Randy & His Family

Elicker provided further details on the newly inked settlement during a press availability he held Saturday morning before heading off to an unrelated event at the homicide victim memorial garden on Valley Street.
The mayor said that Friday’s Zoom-assisted court settlement conference stretched from 10:30 a.m. to around 6:30 p.m., with Elicker, city Corporation Counsel Patricia King, and city-hired attorney Thomas Gerarde present for the city’s side, and Crump, Rubano, Weber, and another colleague of Crump’s present on behalf of Cox. The mayor praised Judge Garcia for doing a “remarkable” job in engaging all of the parties and helping them reach a final agreement.