Innocent Man Left With Catastrophic Brain Damage by Cops

The moment innocent man was left with catastrophic brain damage after being tackled by sheriff's deputy
The Daily Mail Reporter - January 20, 2011

Cocooned in tubes and blankets, he has spent the last 20 months lying helpless in a hospital bed. Christopher Harris, 31, suffered catastrophic brain damage when he was violently tackled by a sheriff's deputy outside a cinema in Seattle. Astonishingly, the moment he was knocked unconscious when he was slammed head-first against a wall was caught on a surveillance camera. His family, including his wife, are now taking the case to court alleging King County Deputies Matthew Paul and Joseph Eshom used excessive force. They are expected to claim at least $25 million in damages. Mr Harris had been walking through the Belltown district on May 10, 2009, when the incident happened. The two officers had been called out to a disturbance in a convenience car and had headed down an alley believing the culprits had gone that way. Instead, they stumbled across Mr Harris who was an innocent passerby. They asked him to stop but instead he ran away. One of the deputies, Matthew Paul, tackled him outside the Cinerama cinema, and he collapsed on the floor. He was taken to hospital and diagnosed with irreversible brain damage. He is unable to walk, talk or care for himself and needs 24 hours care. His lawyer Simeon Osborn said he would have choked on his own blood but for the intervention of a passerby. 'Christopher Harris has irreversible brain damage, and will never recover,' he said. 'He will never walk or talk with his wife and family, or engage in any activities or experiences of daily life.' He told the Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend that Mr Harris had been attempting to surrender when he was tackled by the deputy, who was clad in black fatigues. 'Mr Harris stopped running, put his hands out in front of him and said, "I don't have anything, I didn't steal anything,"' he said. King County has claimed that Mr Harris was responsible for his own injuries because he ran away. Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kristofer Bundy said that his decision to run away was 'extremely foolish and negligent. 'If he had not ran, the officers would have been able to speak with him and quickly determine that he was not the violent felon that they thought he was,' Bundy told the court. 'Therefore, Mr Harris would not have been injured if he had not run.' The case is due to go before a jury on Tuesday and is expected to last several weeks.