ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604240052
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
Twelve years after he shot four black youths on a subway train, Bernhard Goetz was ordered Tuesday to pay $43 million to the one left paralyzed by his final bullet, the one he told: ``You don't look so bad. Here's another.''
The Bronx jury of four blacks and two Hispanics deliberated 41/2 hours before ruling unanimously that the white subway gunman had acted recklessly and without justification in shooting Darrell Cabey, now 30.
The jury awarded Cabey $18 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.
The chances of Cabey's ever collecting are slight. Goetz's notoriety and legal bills have left the 48-year-old self-employed electronics expert with little money.
The verdict came nine years after a criminal trial in which a mostly white jury acquitted Goetz of attempted murder and convicted him of illegally possessing a gun. He served 81/2 months in jail.
Goetz left the courtroom before the verdict was read; he reportedly took the subway home. A call to his home in Manhattan was not immediately returned.
In closing arguments, Cabey's attorney, Ronald Kuby, branded Goetz a murderous racist, citing remarks Goetz made about the four youths that he ``wanted to kill them all'' and ``could have gouged their eyes out.''
His voice rising, Kuby said: ``I don't care how much you award in punitive damages. Bankrupt him. Make sure he never enjoys life as a rich man. Make sure if he wins the lottery, Darrell Cabey wins the lottery.''
Goetz's attorney, Darnay Hoffman, reminded the jury that Cabey was quoted in a 1985 newspaper interview as saying that his friends were about to rob Goetz because he ``looked like easy bait.''
Hoffman admitted that Goetz's own words ``damned him tremendously,'' including his remark that Cabey's mother should have had an abortion and racist references about Hispanics and blacks at a 1980 community meeting.
Hoffman called Goetz ``not some cool, calculating racist,'' but just a frightened man.
The case held national attention for more than a decade, prompting debate about urban vigilantism and race relations in New York City. The National Rifle Association donated $40,000 toward Goetz's legal expenses.
Goetz shot Cabey and three other young men, one of whom carried a screwdriver, Dec. 22, 1984. He later said the four were about to rob him. The men said they were only panhandling when they asked him for $5.
Cabey is paralyzed, brain-damaged and uses a wheelchair.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Bernhard Goetz (right), according to his attorney,by CNBDarnay Hoffman (left), was a frightened but not racist man when he
shot four youths 12 years ago.|