The Marion County Sheriff’s Office has denied claims in a lawsuit from the family of a 73-year-old disabled veteran of the Vietnam War with special needs who was killed in its custody, saying the deputies responsible for what was ultimately ruled a homicide used force within the “scope of their duties,” were acting in “good faith and without malice,” and were protecting the man from himself and others.
Attorneys filed the Answer and Affirmative Defenses on behalf of Sheriff Billy Woods and deputies Jason Lester, Charles Cici, and Justin Douglas, in the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Marion County on June 3.
Attorneys representing the estate of the late Dennis J. Di Genova, Sr., filed the wrongful death lawsuit in the United States Middle District Court of Florida on April 2. According to the complaint, Di Genova was 73 years of age at the time of his death and was classified as “special needs” as defined by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office policy, making him “unable to perform normal activities of daily living or provide for his own care and had a long-term physical and mental disability.”…