Jury awards $7M after finding 2 Madison police officers used unreasonable force in 2014 shooting

[TexasTowelie]

Jury awards $7 million in damages after finding 2 Madison police officers used unreasonable force in 2014 fatal shooting


Two Madison police officers used unreasonable force when they shot and killed a 26-year-old woman who was pointing a gun at her head during a 2014 incident, a jury found Thursday, awarding her family $7 million in damages.

The six-woman, two-man jury deliberated for about 3½ hours before ruling in the federal civil lawsuit brought by the family of Ashley DiPiazza against the officers, Justin Bailey and Gary Pihlaja. Bailey is no longer with the department.

After further deliberations, jurors awarded the family $4 million in compensatory and $3 million in punitive damages.

The jury found that a third officer, Carey Leerek, who was a negotiator, bore no responsibility.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/courts/jury-awards-million-in-damages-after-finding-madison-police-officers/article_7afa930b-feb3-50c2-aa75-be6b11580fff.html