By
his own admission, Jack Abrams lost it when a woman left the door to the
laundry room open at Northlake Villa Condominium one day in January 2010.
Before
he was done venting about the woman's carelessness, Abrams had pumped three
bullets into her boyfriend, who had merely popped his head into the hallway
to find out what all the shouting was about.
The
bloody incident may have ended last year when Abrams, 40, was sentenced to
30 years in prison for shooting Tim Gwinnell, who was unarmed. But because
Abrams had been appointed by the condo board to enforce its rules and
regulations, a Palm Beach County jury last week found the board was liable
for Abrams' inexplicable fit of anger.
After
deliberating for roughly five hours, a jury agreed the North Palm Beach
condominium should pay $1.5 million to the 56-year-old Gwinnell, who
underwent 24 blood transfusions, 12 surgeries, including facial
reconstruction, and faces additional operations to rebuild his
bullet-ravaged body.
A
security expert who testified during the roughly eight-day trial said such
poor decision-making by neighborhood and condo associations is becoming
increasingly common, said attorney Tracy Sharpe, who represents Gwinnell.
Although
it is unlikely the small condo complex near the Intracoastal Waterway even
needed a security guard, its leaders essentially deputized Abrams, with the
help of his girlfriend, who served on the board. No background checks were
done.
Had
they investigated, board members might have discovered that Abrams received
an "other than honorable discharge" in 2000 from the U.S. Marines
Corps for drug use and other character flaws.
A
psychiatrist and psychologist who examined him as part of the criminal case
agreed he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia.
Palm
Beach County Circuit Judge Richard Oftedal, who reviewed their reports
before rejecting Abrams' claims that he should be granted immunity for the
shooting under the state's controversial "stand your ground" law,
found other factors figured into Abrams' near-murderous rampage.
"It
is far more likely that (Abrams) acted not out of self-defense but out of
the pent-up anger, frustration and rage, which had been building within him
throughout the day and which, combined with (his) admitted intoxication, led
him to violently lash out at the very next person who incurred his
wrath," Oftedal wrote.
Indeed,
Sharpe said, Abrams' outburst could have been worse. When North Palm Beach
police searched his apartment, they discovered an arsenal, including five
guns, seven combat knives and 1,400 rounds of ammunition.
Further,
his girlfriend, who helped him get a concealed weapons permit, and others
testified about Abrams' increasingly erratic behavior. The day before he
shot Gwinnell, he told one resident: "I'm getting so sick and tired of
this laundry room. I'm going to kill someone over it."
The
condo's experience should be a warning to others, Sharpe said.
"You
can't get behind someone who's mentally ill, who's exhibited violence and
who has accumulated a stockpile of weapons," he said.
Even
disregarding Abrams' psychological problems, the board violated its own
rules when it empowered him to patrol the complex, Sharpe said.
Only
unit owners can receive such appointments. Abrams wasn't an owner. He was
living with his girlfriend.