It would certainly explain why they thought they could get away with such a flagrant disregard of blind dude's rights. It also explains why he is (or was) having trouble getting a lawyer to litigate against the sheriff since they're all just golfing buddies. It's hard to imagine a more sympathetic plaintiff considering he pretty much had to walk that route at that time of day and pretty much had to carry a cane. Plus there's the whole blind veteran elderly thing.