CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - A black couple who says they were arrested because they accused a white state trooper of racial profiling has received a $1.3 million verdict from a Charleston jury.
The Post and Courier of Charleston reports (https://bit.ly/2mxFXZ3) the jury awarded the money to Catherine and Jean Newkirk, who were pulled over in 2012 in Florence County by then-Trooper James Enzor.
The Newkirks alleged that the trooper had used excessive force in wrongfully arresting them after he stopped Jean Newkirk because he said she was speeding.
The S.C. Department of Public Safety, the umbrella agency for the Highway Patrol, settled with the Newkirks for $100,000. The verdict on Wednesday allows the couple’s lawyers to petition for a separate award of attorneys’ fees.
The newspaper reports Enzor was later fired for a different issue.
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Information from: The Post and Courier, https://www.postandcourier.com
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