SEATTLE (AP) - A small Washington state city will appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a $15.1 million verdict against police who shot and killed an unarmed black man.
The Seattle Times reports in a story on Thursday that the city filed the notice of appeal not long after a federal judge in a blistering ruling on Jan. 11 upheld the award in the police wrongful-death lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein found that the jury had plenty of reasons to conclude that the shooting of Leonard Thomas during a 2013 SWAT operation in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood was outrageous.
Thomas was unarmed, hadn’t threatened anyone and was standing on his porch with his 4-year-old son, whom he had agreed to release, when a sniper killed him.
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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com
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