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 decision and will decide on the appropriate action in the coming weeks. It remains the largest payout for a police case in the City’s history.”
Editor’s Note: Apparently, this idiot judge thinks $11.5 million is much too much to payout for a murdered Black life extinguished by trigger-happy killer-cops who are, supposedly, upholders of “law and order.” What the hell does this dimwit Doty mean when he says the payout “does in fact shock the conscience given the limited facts.” It doesn’t “shock the conscience” that police unjustly killed this Black man Cordale Quinn Handy?
Isn’t it interesting there are never enough “facts” when police kill and murder Black people, as they continue to do today, in 2024?
Judge Doty has just further devalued the life of this dead Black man–as many (judges, prosecutors, etc.) in criminal justice do daily. Yet, many inhumane white Americans whine when they hear Black Americans utter the phrase: Black Lives Matter.