Minnesota: Judge Reduces Record Payout In 2017 Police Killing Of Black Man

Photos: Federal Bar Association\Cordale Q. Handy Foundation The mother of a 29-year-old Black man shot dead by two St. Paul police officers in 2017 now stands to receive far less than the record $11.5 million that a federal jury awarded after a trial last year. Senior U.S. District Judge David Doty ruled this month that the damages — what would have been the largest payout in the City of St. Paul’s history — “does in fact shock the conscience given the limited facts” presented at trial. A jury in August 2023 decided that the City of St. Paul should pay Kimberly Handy-Jones $10 million in compensatory damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages for the shooting death of her son Cordale Quinn Handy. In a Feb. 8 ruling, Doty instead concluded that the most the jury could have awarded in the case was $2.5 million. Handy-Jones can agree to that new amount or proceed to a new trial focused on the compensatory damages. Doty (above) also granted a stay of execution on the judgment pending any decision on appeal. “We appreciate the Court’s response to our request,” City Spokesman Kamal Baker said in a statement. “The City is reviewing the...