A man who was unarmed when he was shot by a policeman has been awarded a whopping amount of money as damages.
Dontrell Stephens
A federal jury awarded $23.1 million on Wednesday to a 22-year-old black man, Stephens, who was unarmed when he was shot and paralyzed by a sheriff's deputy.
According to CBS News, the six-woman, two-man jury ruled after 3 and half hours of deliberation that Palm Beach County Sheriff's Sgt. Adams Lin violated Dontrell Stephens' civil rights when he shot him in September 2013.
Lin, who had stopped Stephens for riding his bicycle into traffic, testified that he shot Stephens four times because he reached for his waistband with his left hand and then flashed a dark object that he thought was a small handgun.
Stephens testified that he was raising his hands when Lin opened fire for no reason. Video from the dashboard camera in Lin's patrol car showed Stephens' left hand was empty and a cellphone was in his right hand.
An appeal is expected and Lin's attorneys could ask Magistrate Judge Barry S. Seltzer to reduce the damages.
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