New York — New York police brutality victim Abner Louima has reached a tentative settlement of his civil suit that will make the Haitian immigrant a rich man but derail his bid to smash the Blue Wall of Silence, the New York Daily News has learned.
Louima, whose torture in the bathroom of a Brooklyn police stationhouse in 1997 grabbed international headlines, would get $9 million under the proposed deal with the city and the Patrolmen's Benevolent Assn. (PBA), according to sources.
The breakthrough in months of talks came when Louima gave up his bid to reform the way the NYPD deals with rogue cops, including his demand to scrap the so-called 48-hour rule that allows officers under suspicion to avoid police questioning for two days.
"It appears Louima caved on that," a lawyer involved in the case said Wednesday. "I guess he wanted the money."
But a Louima adviser said the city hopes to abolish the rule in contract talks with the PBA. "I believe when it's all over, (Louima will) be able to say he was a catalyst for change," the adviser said.
Brooklyn Federal Magistrate Cheryl Pollak set a March 28 conference at which the deal is to be signed, barring last-minute snags. Sources said the $9 million would be paid by the city and the PBA, though it wasn't clear how much each would fork over.
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