The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
A lawsuit filed in the 2010 death of a police recruit alleges that "repeated, violent blows to the head" of John Kohn by training instructors resulted in a brain hemorrhage that created a subdural hematoma and caused his death.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Circuit Court by Kohn's widow, Patricia Kohn, asks for $35 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages.
The suit names: Bruce P. Marquis, the former police chief; Sharon Chamberlin, current acting police chief and former senior assistant chief over the training division; and officers who trained recruits in defensive tactics - Leldon Sapp, Stephen Bailey, Michael Reardon and Laura Tessier.
The financial amount is simply the ceiling past which a jury cannot go, said James C. Lewis, Patricia Kohn's attorney.
"The value of the harms and losses this family has suffered will be left up to a jury, not me," Lewis said. "This is about a whole lot more than replacing lost wages. This is a family that's been destroyed."
Subdural hematoma occurs when blood vessels rupture between the brain and the outermost of three membrane layers that cover it, according to Mayo Clinic, which operates hospitals in Minnesota, Florida and Arizona. Leaking blood forms a hematoma that compresses brain tissue and will cause unconsciousness and death if it continues enlarging.
Kohn, 40, died in a hospital in December after he was injured during a week of defensive tactics training. He was hit in the head during drills - strikes that were routine training in Norfolk at the time - and also collided with another recruit while running.
Since then, the department has joined other agencies in banning intentional head strikes during training. Experts have noted that headgear worn by recruits does not prevent them from getting head injuries.
The lawsuit alleges Marquis and Chamberlin failed to properly operate and supervise the training academy and alleges the instructors hit Kohn in the head, causing his death.
Kohn blacked out after three sparring drills in which he was expected to block blows from instructors on top of him. The third drill led to public outrage after the release of a video that showed Sapp hitting Kohn, whose arms then fell flat to the mat. A few minutes later, he began making snoring and gurgling noises and was taken to the hospital. He never regained consciousness.
Although instructors asked recruits three times a day whether they were injured, Kohn did not speak up.
Patrick Wilson, (757) 222-3893, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com
____
DOCUMENTS | POLICE RECRUIT JOHN KOHN'S DEATH
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Just Another
Another in a long line of police training instructors behaving like bullies and hazing their recruits. This unfortunate situation could have been prevented by ensuring your instructors are capable of teaching more than they are of "ground fighting" It is a testament to the flawed programs used to train our local police. The sheriff's office is no better, subjecting their recruits to emotional abuse and unnecessary force. If you want your department to behave in a professional manner, you must ensure your instructors are setting the example.
To the Kohn family, so much sadness. My heart goes out to you.
wont hurt???
One writer says it was preventable because the recruit didnt say he was hurt. How stupid of a response is that? As he's being beat unconscious the bum thats beating him cant tell he's hurt? Leave those remarks to the professional lawyers who will twist this around to get sympathy for Sapp.
A FEW REMAINING QUESTIONS, for Acting Chief Chamberlin
The public needs to know the full story on what information (verbal, electronic & written) took place between herself and the former Chief after this accident. It will all come out during the civil trial so why hide it now? How long has the training been video taped? Has she ever monitored the defensive training she oversaw? She is being considered for the chiefs position, let’s clear this up before they make a selection.
good questions
The story yesterday included Chamberlain's time line which includes eye opening double speak such as:
12/9 she writes "after leaving ER I proceeded to training. Detectives were conducting interviews & recovering the tapes from the training room."
Context, remember on 12/21 NPD released a statement that implied that the collision was the potential cause of injury and made no mention of the head strikes detectives had been investigating.
1/13 she writes "viewed the tapes for the first time when Capt. Maslow brought it to my attention."
But my favorite is from page 4, point #5: "the decision to focus on the collision was an attempt to be transparent."
FAIL. Chamberlain & any others who participated in the cover up need to go NOW.
I'm sorry for his wifes loss
It was such a tragic and avoidable loss.
Wierd......
....this type of thing usually happens during a hazing into a bloods or crips gang. To think one happens at a police dept. and the other in the streets.
So different yet so similiar.
Tragic!
Now that we know a crime has been committed
Who is going to be charged? and with what? Involuntary manslaughter would be a start. Maybe the Feds need to come in and do a criminal investigation.
I watched the training
film a few times. And it seems the instructor lost control. When he stood up, and started punching Kohn in the head repeatedly. I believe those punches, knocked kohn unconscious. News 3 also said Kohn had received a blow to the head, in another training drill. Which the doctors said could have made the second injury worse. And on top of all of that. He had been through this floor exercise twice, before the fatal one. Too many blows to anyone's head, can spell big trouble. This incident could easily have been an accident. If the training instructor hadn't got so aggressive.
Tragic but preventable
"Recruits are asked 3 times a day if they are hurt and Kohn didn't speak up." Maybe had he told the instructors he was hurt earlier, he would have been evaluated before further training. Previous stories stated he complained to students that he didn't feel right, but said nothing to instructors. Thsi is very tragic, but if someone asks if you are hurt, speak up. I do feel for his family, but I also feel for the training department. Both sides were affected by this tragidy.
Anyone who justifies this
Anyone who justifies this indefensible act on the basis that the recruit should have complained of a previous injury has taken too many headshots himself.