Clackamas Co. settles wrongful death lawsuit

OREGON CITY, Ore. – Clackamas County has reached a $1 million settlement with the family 27-year-old Gresham man who died during a confrontation with police in 2005.

The settlement ends a wrongful death claim brought by the family of Fouad Kaady. The family had settled a related lawsuit with Sandy Police in 2009.

Kent Spence, attorney for the Kaady family, told us that the family "chose to settle this case, rather than go through the trauma of a three week trial."

For Clackamas County, this settlement comes as "purely a business decision made by the insurance carrier,” said Michael Patterson, defense counsel for the defendants, in a press release Monday. “None of the parties admit to liability in this case, and we continue to deny that the defendants engaged in any wrong doing.” 

The suit claimed that 27-year-old Fouad Kaady of Portland was naked, burned and bleeding a year ago when officers fired a stun gun at him and shot him multiple times. A grand jury declined to indict the officers, one a county deputy, the other from the city of Sandy, according to Associated Press reports on the case.

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 Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts, "but was prepared to mount a vigorous defense of our deputies and our agency,”
 
“This case was difficult for all involved,” said Clackamas County Commissioner Ann Lininger in the release. “We continue to support the Sheriff’s Office and all the deputies in the difficult work they do every day.”