The federal lawsuit filed by Leonard Cure’s family over his 2023 shooting death by a Camden County, Georgia, sheriff’s sergeant was dismissed with prejudice on January 15, 2026, on terms consistent with a confidential settlement. That closes the civil side of the case. The separate federal criminal case against the sergeant who killed him, Buck William Aldridge, is still open: Aldridge faces a 13-count indictment for excessive force and falsifying records tied to other incidents, has pleaded not guilty, and remains in the pretrial stage. This Leonard Cure lawsuit update walks through how the civil case ended, what the indictment covers, and where the criminal docket stands now.
How the Civil Lawsuit Ended
Cure’s family sued in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, Brunswick Division, on February 27, 2024, seeking at least $16 million in damages against Sgt. Buck Aldridge and then-Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor.1ABC News. Family of Exonerated Georgia Man Files $16 Million Federal Lawsuit Attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels represented the family.2Ben Crump Law. Ben Crump Files Lawsuit for Leonard Cure Police Shooting Georgia
A jury trial had been set for February 3, 2026.3First Coast News. Camden County Sergeant Buck Aldridge Killed Exonerated Man Indicted Excessive Force Falsifying Records It never happened. On January 14, 2026, the defendants filed a stipulation of dismissal, and Judge Lisa G. Wood signed an order the next day dismissing every claim with prejudice, with each side bearing its own fees and costs.4PACER Monitor. Cure v. Aldridge et al
Dismissal with prejudice means the family cannot refile the same claims. The timing (weeks before trial) and the joint stipulation are the shape a settlement usually takes on a public docket, but no settlement terms have been announced. If money changed hands, the amount is not public.
What the Lawsuit Alleged
The complaint made two distinct claims. Against Aldridge, it alleged excessive force during the October 16, 2023, traffic stop on Interstate 95 that ended with him shooting Cure after a struggle over a Taser.5NPR. Leonard Allan Cure Wrongful Conviction Georgia Shooting Death Against Sheriff Proctor, it alleged supervisory liability, arguing he hired Aldridge in 2018 knowing the Kingsland Police Department had fired him in 2017 for a use-of-force policy violation, and that Proctor “routinely overlooked” patterns of deputy misconduct.6The Brunswick News. Family of Leonard Cure Files Federal Lawsuit Against Camden County Sheriff’s Office
Both defendants denied the core allegations. They admitted Aldridge had been fired from Kingsland for a use-of-force violation, but denied that Proctor knew or should have known of any propensity for violence, and both asserted qualified immunity.7GPB News. Georgia Deputy Denies Allegation of Excessive Force in Killing of Exonerated Black Man Aldridge’s attorney, Adrienne Browning, called him a “fine officer” who acted in self-defense.8AOL News. Family of Exonerated Black Man Killed by Georgia Deputy Files Lawsuit Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Keith Higgins had already declined to file state criminal charges over the shooting, finding Aldridge’s use of deadly force “objectively reasonable” because he was being “overpowered” during the struggle.9New York Times. Georgia Deputy Fatal Shooting Leonard Cure
The Federal Indictment Against Aldridge
The criminal case is separate from the shooting itself. On August 6, 2025, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia returned a 13-count indictment charging Aldridge with deprivation of rights under color of law and falsifying records.10U.S. Department of Justice. Current Camden County Sheriff’s Sgt Indicted Federal Civil Rights Violations The charges concern four other encounters between 2021 and 2023, not Cure’s death.
- January 2021: Aldridge allegedly tased and kicked a person without justification, then omitted the kick from his report and falsely claimed the person had failed to comply with verbal commands.11News4Jax. Camden County Deputy Kicked Punched and Used Tasers During Arrests Then Omitted That From Reports Indictment Says
- August 2021: he allegedly tased a handcuffed person and pressed the Taser’s pistol grip into their neck, then wrote in his report that the person had been “running away.”
- June 2022: he allegedly tased and punched a person in the face after they had stopped resisting, and left the punches out of his report.
- August 2023: he allegedly struck a juvenile in the back of the head with a Taser and omitted that detail from his written account.12Fox 59 / AP. Former Georgia Deputy Indicted on Charges He Used Excessive Force and Covered It Up in Reports
Each civil rights count carries up to 10 years in prison. Each false-report count carries up to 20 years. The Camden County Sheriff’s Office fired Aldridge effective August 7, 2025, the day after the indictment.3First Coast News. Camden County Sergeant Buck Aldridge Killed Exonerated Man Indicted Excessive Force Falsifying Records
Where the Criminal Case Stands
The case is United States v. Aldridge, 2:25-cr-00021, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. Aldridge was arraigned on August 28, 2025, entered a plea of not guilty, and was released on a $10,000 unsecured appearance bond.13CourtListener. United States v. Aldridge
The court granted a joint continuance in October 2025, pushing the motions deadline into January 2026. By late December 2025, prosecutors had filed a motion to admit evidence of Aldridge’s prior bad acts under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) and had given notice of an expert witness. A hearing on pretrial motions was scheduled for February 18, 2026, before Magistrate Judge Benjamin W. Cheesbro.13CourtListener. United States v. Aldridge As of the most recent docket entry in January 2026, no trial date had been set.
Who Leonard Cure Was
Cure spent more than 16 years in Florida prisons for a 2003 Walgreens armed robbery in Dania Beach that he did not commit. The Broward County State Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit and the Innocence Project of Florida reinvestigated the case, and on December 11, 2020, Judge John J. Murphy vacated his convictions; all charges were dropped three days later.14Innocence Project of Florida. Leonard Cure In June 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a claims bill awarding him $817,000, tuition coverage, and a formal state apology.15Broward County State Attorney’s Office. Broward State Attorney Leonard Cure Claims Bill Approved Less than four months later, he was dead.
At the news conference after the federal indictment, Cure’s brother Michael said, “A corrupt police department took our brother and our mother’s son for 16 years. Now this corrupt police department has taken him permanently.”16Action News Jax. Family of Leonard Cure Speaks Out After Indictment of Former Camden County Deputy With the civil suit now dismissed, the remaining public proceeding is Aldridge’s federal trial, which has yet to be scheduled.