Georgia Deputy Cleared in Exoneree Leonard Cure Fatal Shooting

Examining Justice and Accountability in Police Violence Cases

By Darius Spearman (africanelements)

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Wrongful Convictions and Fractured Lives

Leonard Cure spent 16 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. His exoneration in 2020 offered fleeting hope—until a traffic stop in Camden County ended his life. Cure’s intrusion into America’s carceral nightmare began at age 19 when mistaken eyewitness testimony sent him to prison for armed robbery. The same system that failed him in 2003 would ultimately extinguish his second chance at freedom.

Newly surfaced bodycam footage reveals the final moments of Cure’s life. Deputy Buck Aldridge shouts commands before deploying his Taser. A struggle ensues—Cure momentarily grabs Aldridge’s throat. The deputy fires a fatal shot into Cure’s chest. Prosecutors later claimed self-defense, but the video raises haunting questions. Why was Aldridge still employed after prior excessive force allegations? How does PTSD from incarceration shape interactions with law enforcement? The answers remain wrapped in Georgia’s thick legal fog.

Use of Force and Public Trust

Camden County Sheriff’s Office hired Aldridge in 2018 despite his termination from a neighboring department. His personnel file reads like a checklist for systemic rot: Tasering teens, punching suspects, dragging motorists from vehicles. Yet Georgia’s police liability laws let departments recycle problematic officers between jurisdictions. These musical chairs create lethal outcomes disguised as isolated incidents.

Georgia law shields officers through “qualified immunity” unless plaintiffs prove clearly established rights violations. Cure’s family now navigates this legal morass in their $16M federal lawsuit. While exonerees theoretically regain constitutional protections, the trauma lingers. Researchers note many struggle with hypervigilance—a survival reflex honed in prison’s dehumanizing bureaucracy. For Cur,e that instinct collided with Aldridge’s hair-trigger reflexes on a roadside chokehold of history.

Legal Landscapes and Civil Rights Battles

The Fifth Circuit’s strict interpretation of federal civil rights statutes leaves families like the Cures fighting uphill. To win damages, they must show Aldridge willfully violated established law. Yet bodycam evidence can’t capture hidden variables: the officer’s implicit biases or Cure’s prison-induced startle reflexes. These unseen forces transform a routine traffic stop into a death sentence.

America’s 13,000+ police agencies operate under conflicting use-of-force guidelines. Some departments train officers to de-escalate, while others reward aggression. Until states adopt unified standards, crisis moments will continue to spawn tragedies. Cure’s case exposes this patchwork—a veteran cop’s worst impulses colliding with systemic indifference. The road toward justice remains paved with legal landmines and broken promises.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darius Spearman has been a professor of Black Studies at San Diego City College since 2007. His work includes Between the Color Lines: A History of African Americans on the California Frontier Through 1890. Explore his analysis of systemic injustice at africanelements.org.