The City of Madison has settled the lawsuit brought by the family of Tony Robinson for a record $3.35 million, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to Madison365.
Robinson was killed in his Williamson Street neighborhood by Madison Police Officer Matt Kenny in March 2015. Robinson was unarmed but Kenny told investigators that Robinson was acting aggressively and Kenny feared for his safety.
The settlement is the largest of its kind in state history. Madison also holds the previous record, a $2.3 million settlement with the family of Paul Heenan, who was fatally shot by a Madison officer in 2012.
“This is a day Andrea has both dreaded and longed for,” said Rev. David Hart, an advisor and confidante of the family. “While she wanted to have her day in court to restore her son’s name and illustrate that Kenny was not truthful about the shooting, this settlement represents justice. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
The shooting sparked protests around Madison, but an internal Madison Police Department investigation found Kenny adhered to police protocol and District Attorney Ismael Ozanne declined to bring charges against Kenny, finding the shooting lawful.
The family’s lawsuit, however, outlines forensic evidence that indicates Kenny was not in danger, and that events did not unfold as Kenny described. The Robinson family’s attorneys were sharply critical of the City’s investigation.
“The City of Madison did no investigation,” said attorney David Owens of the Chicago firm Loevy & Loevy, who are representing Robinson’s estate. “They didn’t want to ask Kenny any questions at all. There’s a big problem lurking there.”
Owens pointed out that Kenny told his superiors that the shooting began at the top of the stairs of the apartment building at 1125 Williamson Street; dashcam video, however, indicates that Kenny started shooting from the bottom of the stairs, where he would not have been in immediate danger.
“There’s an important thing to note about what the District Attorney decided,” Owens said. “He reached a decision about how this happened. The cop said this happened. The video said the opposite happened. We’re not going to press charges. What? The City of Madison didn’t do anything about that. The DA didn’t do anything about that. He didn’t care.”
“The city asked Officer Kenny zero questions,” said Anand Swaminathan, another attorney representing the Robinson estate. “Officer Kenny’s version of the story was not scrutinized to the degree of even asking a single question. That’s a broken process. Hopefully the citizens of Madison will hear about this and demand something different from their police department.”
In the settlement, the City does not explicitly admit to any wrongdoing, but the family’s attorneys say the message is clear.
“This is a $3.35 million settlement. That is more than a million dollars higher than the previous largest settlement,” said Swaminathan. “Ask yourself why would the city pay more than a million more than anyone has ever paid in a case like this before. It’s obvious that they recognized they had a major problem at trial. The dollar amount speaks volumes.”
A judge had recently dismissed the City of Madison as a defendant, saying there was no evidence that the shooting resulted from improper policies on the part of the City. However, under state law, the City would still have to pay any damages if Kenny was found liable by a court.
Owens did acknowledge that the City of Madison and Madison Police have done good things with regard to race relations and in the past have handled excessive force complaints appropriately.
Additionally, Owens noted, “In October and November (Madison police) did change their policy with respect to backup. That’s something they should be applauded for. But to be truly accountable they have to admit the deep dark secrets.”
“If an officer shoots a human being, it’s a totally different event,” Owens said. “It’s so confounding that a city can do so much good but be so reflexive when an officer shoots somebody. They will bend over backward to say it was justified, and they’re doing that here. We are true believers, man. We really want a better community and we want people to be safe. Police officers have a hard job and they make people safer. But when they can kill people with impunity, that doesn’t make us safer.”
Madison police were not a party to the settlement or the negotiations, according to a statement released Thursday. “Chief Koval and other department leaders had hoped the civil case would proceed to trial so Officer Kenny could be cleared in this additional venue, however they understand that attorneys, insurance providers and risk managers have reached a business decision based on factors other than the actual facts of the case. The settlement does not express or even suggest an admission of wrongdoing, and does not alter MPD’s view on the matter,” the statement says.
The statement also says Kenny remains on the force in the training and mounted patrol units.
MPD spokesman Joel Despain initially said he was unaware of the settlement until he saw it reported in the media.
The settlement will be formally announced at a noon press conference today. The lawsuit was scheduled to go to court on February 27.
Robinson’s mother, Andrea Irwin, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did her attorneys. This story will be updated.
