A cautious jury. Citizens reviewing police brutality against citizens. They could have awarded much more. Could have and should have are outlooks that would need more familiarity with facts at trial before that reader judgment can be made.
DENVER — Jurors on Friday found police used excessive force against protesters, violating their constitutional rights, during demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd two years ago, ordering the city to pay a total of $14 million in damages to a group of 12 who sued.
The jury of two men and six women, largely white and drawn from around Colorado, returned its verdict after about four hours of deliberations. The verdict followed three weeks of testimony and evidence that included police and protester video of incidents.
Lawyers involved believed it was the first trial in a lawsuit challenging officer tactics during the 2020 protests that erupted around the nation over the police killing of Floyd and other Black people.
The protesters who sued were shot at or hit by everything from pepper spray to a Kevlar-bag filled with lead shot fired from a shotgun. Zach Packard, who was hit in the head by the shotgun blast and ended up in the intensive care unit, received the largest damage amount — $3 million.
[...] Elisabeth Epps, a lawyer and activist who was one of the protesters who sued, said the attorneys for the city she loves gaslighted the protesters during the trial, questioning their account of what happened. At one point, a lawyer for Denver called her a “professional protester” after she testified that she had attended protests since she was a child and had received training about how to respond to being tear-gassed. She grew emotional talking about what it meant to have the jury side with the protesters.
“It feels like being seen,” Epps said.
The protesters said the actions of police violated their free speech rights and rights to be protected from unreasonable force. Jurors found violations of both rights for 11 of the protesters and only free speech violations for the other. The protesters claimed Denver was liable for the police’s actions through its policies, including giving officers wide discretion in using what police call “less lethal” devices, failing to train officers on them, and not requiring them to use their body-worn cameras during the protests to deter indiscriminate uses of force.
[...] Five Denver police officers have been disciplined for their actions during the protests, according to the department. Another officer, who was new and still on probation, was fired during the protests after posting a photo of himself and others dressed in tactical gear on social media with the comment “Let’s start a riot.”
Aggressive responses from officers to people protesting police brutality nationally have led to financial settlements, the departures of police chiefs and criminal charges.
In Austin, Texas, officials have agreed to pay over $13 million to people injured in protests in May 2020, and 19 officers have been indicted for their actions against protesters.
[italics added] One probationary cop got fired. One. Probationary. Five others, "disciplined."
On that limp official reaction alone, surely twice the fourteen million could have been awarded. It is as clear a demonstration of abominable governmental hubris as one might imagine to teach responsibility to so few. No discipline of higher-ups, who failed to train and failed to require body-cam evidence in a situation fraught with reasonable anticipation of mayhem.
Law and order, and fuck 'em. That seems what the bosses fostered. Go figure. Gross Negligence, or intent to permit brutality, hidden off record.
Then a jury reviewed. Bless juries. Justice otherwise is at the will and judgment of a single government official, one who with a jury, presides while the jury decides.