Jury awards huge settlement for a family of a man a cop killed
Police officers killing citizens is becoming a costly business for local communities and their insurers, the Washington Post reported earlier this year. Such was the case with an Ohio jury awarded the family of an unarmed black man shot and killed while he was sleeping, reported The Guardian.
The jury ordered $4.4 million in compensatory damages for Luke Stewart, who was asleep in his car in Euclid, Ohio in March of 2017. Officer Matthew Rhodes "climbed" into the car after someone reported the "suspicious car," reported ABC News Cleveland.
The police thought the man was under the influence, so when they woke him and he tried to drive away, Rhodes jumped into the car. A scuffle ensued and Rhodes shot him with a Taser before he fired four fatal shots.
"His mother, Mary Stewart, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Rhodes in 2021," said The Guardian. "This week following deliberations the jury awarded compensatory damages, aimed at restitution for the family’s losses, though it neglected to indict the officer or order punitive damages, which are paid in order to punish the plaintiff."
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Rhodes told the jury that the problem was that his dash cam and flashlight weren't on when he approached Stewart. Dashboard camera videos are considered public records in Ohio.
Sarah Gelsomino, the lawyer for Stewart's mother, said that the lack of dash-cam footage “deprived the public of a key piece of evidence” necessary.
"In total, 25 of the largest police and sheriff’s departments spent more than $3.2 billion to resolve claims of police misconduct over the past 10 years," the Post said about the data from the incidents.
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