Even as subway gunman Bernhard Goetz seeks a reprieve from his debts in bankruptcy court, he can't shake one $43 million bill.
That's what a jury decided he owes Darrell Cabey, one of four teenagers he shot on a New York subway train a dozen years ago.On Tuesday, Judge Cornelius Blackshear granted a motion that allows Cabey's lawyers to start pressing Goetz for the money.
Cabey's attorneys say they will go after Goetz for everything they can, even if it means watching his every move for the rest of his life.
"And we will do that," said Stephen Somerstein, one of Cabey's lawyers. "It's become the life's mission of several attorneys."
A jury last month blamed Goetz for the injuries that left Cabey paralyzed and brain damaged. Goetz, who claimed he was acting in self-defense, was cleared of attempted murder charges after a 1987 criminal trial. He served 81/2 months in jail on a weapons conviction.
After the civil suit, the 48-year-old electronics engineer filed for bankruptcy, listing his total assets at $17,000.
Somerstein said Cabey can collect 10 percent of Goetz's income for the next 20 years. Big money would more likely come from a Goetz book deal.