World News | Jury: Officer Must Pay Man's Family USD 4.4M in Fatal Shooting
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. A white police officer who fatally shot a Black driver during a struggle inside a car in 2017 must pay his family USD 4.4 million.
Ohio (US), Nov 2 (AP) A white police officer who fatally shot a Black driver during a struggle inside a car in 2017 must pay his family USD 4.4 million.
An Ohio jury made the award on Tuesday, finding that Euclid officer Matthew Rhodes acted recklessly when he climbed into 23-year-old Luke Stewart's car and shot him as Stewart drove away.
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The shooting had inflamed racial tensions in Euclid, a Cleveland suburb, and a grand jury declined to indict Rhodes after hearing evidence from prosecutors.
The jury's finding stemmed from a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Stewart's mother. The panel said Rhodes must pay Stewart's family USD 3.9 million for the loss of his support and companionship and USD 500,000 for the pain and suffering he went through.
But Rhodes will not have to pay punitive damages to the family or attorney's fees.
The family's attorneys told Cleveland.com that the verdict provided long-awaited accountability for what happened to Stewart. A lawyer representing Rhodes did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stewart's family had filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and the officer, but a trial court dismissed the case, and an appeals court agreed, saying there was no clearly established law barring the officer's conduct.
The US Supreme Court declined to hear the case in a decision made in May 2021.
Stewart's family had contended in that lawsuit that police training in the city “encouraged, or at least condoned, excessive force.”
The training included the use of a sketch by comedian Chris Rock, in which he gave “tips” on how to avoid being beaten by police, and cartoons allegedly making light of police violence. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)