Shooting Trial Over

Story as posted on Sanford Herald's website.

GREENSBORO — A federal jury on Tuesday awarded former Army sergeant Stephen Phelps at least $750,000 in his suit against the Moore County Sheriff’s Office and the former deputy — now the chief deputy of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office — who shot him and another soldier during a 2002 military training exercise. As the verdict was read, Phelps showed no emotion. Former deputy Randall Butler, now the second in command under Lee County Sheriff Tracy Carter, closed his eyes. Phelps said afterward: “I was happy that the truth finally came out.”The jury rendered the verdict about 9:45 p.m., after more than two hours of deliberation. Minutes before the verdict, jury members clarified with the judge the rules on awarding compensatory damages.After the verdict, lawyers sparred over whether the total damages were $750,000 or $850,000. The jury awarded $650,000 in compensatory damages and $100,000 or $200,000 in punitive damages.Phelps’ lawyer, Carlos Mahoney, had sought $1.2 million.Army 1st Lt. Tallas Tomeny died in the same incident that left Phelps severely injured. Tomeny’s estate settled out of court.Phelps and Tomeny had been taking part in Robin Sage, an exercise that trains soldiers for Special Forces.For the training, soldiers simulate infiltration of a foreign nation. Phelps and Charles Leiber, a civilian who was playing the role of an adviser, testified that they thought when Butler stopped their vehicle it was part of the exercise.Butler had argued that the men were acting suspiciously in an area that had experienced a lot burglaries. Butler also said he saw two machine guns and that Tomeny had told Phelps to kill him.On Tuesday, juror members said they did not believe Butler’s claims about the guns or the order to kill.Greg Harris of Hoke County said he found Phelps and Leiber more believable than Butler.“Mr. Leiber’s testimony was pretty strong,” he said. “And Phelps — (the lawyers) couldn’t get him crossed up. His story stayed the same throughout his testimony.”Harris said Butler’s story changed.Juror Christy Atkinson of Sanford said she thought about her own family when she made her decision.After the judge dismissed the jury, Butler slowly returned to his seat. Moore County Sheriff Lane Carter said neither he nor Butler would have any comment.Butler’s current boss, though, had praise for him and noted that Butler had been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing several years ago.“When this incident occurred in 2002, Randall Butler was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by the SBI, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office and the military,” Lee County Sheriff Tracy Carter said. “This ruling was in a civil case and it doesn’t change the findings in 2002. (Butler) has done a great job as chief deputy here and this does not change his role at Lee County Sheriff’s Office.”Phelps said that for years, he and other members of the Special Forces community were unhappy that only the one side of the story was out in the media. But he said he kept quiet until he could get his day in court.He added that the verdict was not about the money.Butler shot Phelps in his arm and chest. The former soldier spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and months recovering. He has said he still suffers from the effects of the shooting.“Twelve people found that what I said and Mr. Leiber said was the truth,” Phelps said.— The Fayetteville Observer and Herald reporter Gordon Anderson contributed to this report.