County pays $1 million to settle with Kaady family

In 2005, a Sandy officer and Clackamas County deputy shot and killed Fouad Kaady, who was naked, unarmed, injured

By Jim Hart

The Sandy Post, Mar 16, 2010, Updated Mar 16, 2010

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But Patterson said there was a real threat to the officers' safety.

“(Kaady) actually told (the officers) he was going to kill them,” Patterson said. “He had shown the ability to do that, since the Tasers did not affect him, and he was about ready to jump on the officers when they shot him.

The officers were in fear of their lives, and reacted accordingly.”

In fact, Patterson says the officers did exactly what they should have done in this incident.

“None of the parties admit to liability in this case,” Patterson said, “and we continue to deny that the defendants engaged in any wrongdoing.”

As part of the settlement, the claims will be dismissed in their entirety.

Clackamas County’s insurance carrier will fund the settlement.

“I support the decision to reach a settlement,” said Sheriff Craig Roberts, “but was prepared to mount a vigorous defense of our deputies and our agency.”

The county and the deputy would have been held accountable if the case had gone to court, Spence said. The decision to settle was made by the insurance pool.

If the case had come to a trial in federal magistrate Paul Papak’s courtroom, the Kaady family would have been represented by Michelle Burrows of Portland and Jackson, Wyo., attorneys Kent Spence and Gerry Spence, who has represented high-profile cases for many years.

Last year, Papak questioned the accuracy of reports about the shooting, noting contradictory testimonies and questioning the need for deadly force.

In his 50-page response to summary-judgment motions, Papak suggested there might be a civil rights violation in the plaintiff’s claim against the use of deadly force.

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