JUDGE UPHOLDS VERDICT FOR FAMILY OF EX-CON DEPUTIES SHOT, KILLED.Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer A federal judge has upheld a jury's verdict favoring favoring an animal is said to be favoring a leg when it avoids putting all of its weight on the limb. A part of being lame in a limb. the family of an ex-convict shot to death by sheriff's deputies in 2002 in Little Rock, but it reduced damages awarded from $4 million to $2.4 million, the family's attorney said Thursday. A Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. federal jury in November 2005 awarded the damages to Robert Mitchell's family, who had filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against Los Angeles County, claiming the shooting was unjustified. ``I'm very happy. Obviously I feel the judge made the right decision,'' said Dale Galipo, attorney for the Mitchell family. ``This is a case where they made no offer of a settlement. We were forced to go to trial and won, which we felt it was a great victory.'' The county had appealed the verdict, filing motions for a new trial and to have the judgment thrown out. U.S. District Judge Robert Kelleher, who presided over the trial, denied both motions, Galipo said. Oral arguments on the post-trial motions were heard in January 2006, and Kelleher issued his ruling on Tuesday, records show. Dennis Gonzales of the Los Angeles County Counsel's Office said the judge's ruling will be reviewed and most likely appealed. ``It appears that we are going to appeal it,'' Gonzales said. ``We think the court's decision sustaining the verdict was certainly erroneous erroneous adj. 1) in error, wrong. 2) not according to established law, particularly in a legal decision or court ruling. based upon what we believe the law to be.'' Gonzales noted that Kelleher took nearly a year to come up with his ruling. ``It took some time,'' Gonzales said. The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of Mitchell's parents and six children. Attorneys for the county had argued at the trial that Deputy Rick Manes manes (mā`nēz), in Roman religion, spirits of the dead. Originally, they were called di manes, a collective divinity of the dead. Manes could also refer to the realm of the dead and, later, to the individual souls of the dead. was justified in shooting Mitchell, who was unarmed, because Mitchell tried to grab Manes' gun and then went after his partner's gun, Galipo said at the time of the verdict. But Mitchell was at least 2 feet away when the first shots were fired, Galipo had said. Mitchell's white T-shirt showed no soot soot, black or dull brown deposit of fine powder resulting from incomplete combustion of fuel of high carbon content, e.g., coal, wood, and oil. It consists chiefly of amorphous carbon and tarry substances that cause it to adhere to surfaces. or stipple stip·ple tr.v. stip·pled, stip·pling, stip·ples 1. To draw, engrave, or paint in dots or short strokes. 2. To apply (paint, for example) in dots or short strokes. 3. that would have come from a shot fired at close range, the attorney said. The shooting occurred about 6:30 p.m. Nov. 20, 2002, as Mitchell was leaving his sister's house on the 9200 block of East Avenue T-4 to go to his parents' house, where he lived about eight blocks away, officials said. Mitchell had been released from prison the previous May after serving time for assault on a peace officer. Deputies pulled up in front of the house in response to a 911 call about a burglary burglary, at common law, the breaking and entering of a dwelling house of another at night with the intent to commit a felony, whether the intent is carried out or not. at a home next door. Before arriving, the deputies were told that the intruder An attacker that gains, or tries to gain, unauthorized access to a system. See attacker, intrusion and IDS. was a neighbor who was threatening to kill the residents, officials said. karen.maeshiro@dailynews.com (661) 267-5744 |
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