WOODBINE, Ga. –– Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump and co-counsel Harry Daniels have announced their filing of a lawsuit on behalf of the family of Leonard Cure, seeking at least $17 million in damages from Camden County, Georgia, Deputy Buck Aldridge, who fatally shot Cure, and Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor.
Leonard Cure spent more than 16 years in prison for a 2003 robbery before he was exonerated in December 2020 based on findings of “actual innocence,” according to The Innocence Project of Florida. Before he was fatally shot by Aldridge, Cure planned to pursue a college degree and frequently spoke at colleges about his experience of being wrongfully convicted and incarcerated.
“We will never stop saying Leonard Cure’s name. Leonard should be remembered as a man who aspired to do what he could to improve the very system that robbed him of his life in so many ways,” said Crump. “This lawsuit is a powerful first step towards justice for Leonard’s memory. Hopefully this lawsuit can prevent others from suffering the same fate as Leonard, dying on the side of an interstate as the result of excessive police use of force.”
On October 16, 2023, Cure was pulled over by Aldridge for speeding on I-95. Once on the shoulder of the interstate, Aldridge ordered Cure out of his vehicle and tried to grab his arm, but Cure moved his arm so that Aldridge couldn’t grab him, according to the complaint. The complaint details that Aldridge then unholstered his taser, pointed it at Cure, and threatened to tase him if he did not step to the back of his truck. Cure complied with this order.
As detailed in the complaint, Aldridge then ordered Cure to place his hands behind his back and attempted to grab Cure’s arm, but Cure pulled his arm away. Aldridge then tased Cure in the back and, in response, Cure physically resisted Aldridge’s unlawful and excessive use of force, according to the complaint. A physical struggle ensued before Aldridge unholstered his gun and shot Cure, who died on the side of the interstate, as described in the complaint.
Aldridge had previously been fired from a different Georgia law enforcement agency in 2017 after violating its use of force policy. The lawsuit asserts that Sheriff Proctor has demonstrated a pattern of failure to terminate and discipline multiple officers, including Aldridge, with histories of excessive force within the Camden County Sheriff’s Office.
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ABOUT BEN CRUMP LAW
Through his work, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has spearheaded a legal movement to better protect the rights of marginalized citizens. He has led landscape-changing civil rights cases and represented clients in a wide range of areas including civil rights, personal injury, labor and employment, class actions, and more. Ben Crump Law is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable. For more information, visit bencrump.com.
