Fresno Pays $1.29 Million to Father of Unarmed Teen Shot by Police at a Gas Station
After trial: The case settled in August 2018 and both federal lawsuits were dismissed, so there was no appeal. The city denied liability.
Won by Chandler law office (counsel for Veronica Nelson, the mother) and Paboojian & Bell.
Fresno police officers shot and killed Dylan Noble, an unarmed 19-year-old, at a gas station on June 25, 2016. His father, represented by Warren Paboojian, sued the city in federal court under Section 1983. In August 2018 the Fresno City Council approved a settlement paying the father $1.29 million, with the city making no admission of liability and agreeing to additional officer training on high-risk traffic stops.
What happened
On the afternoon of June 25, 2016, Fresno police officers responded to a report of a man walking with a rifle in east-central Fresno. A short pursuit ended at a Chevron station at Shields and Armstrong avenues, where 19-year-old Dylan Noble stopped his truck. Officers ordered him to show both hands. Noble kept one hand out of view, and two officers, Raymond Camacho and Robert Chavez, opened fire. Noble was taken to a hospital and died of his wounds. He was unarmed, and the encounter was captured on police body cameras.
The Fresno County District Attorney reviewed the shooting and filed no charges against either officer. In December 2016 Police Chief Jerry Dyer released the department's internal findings, which held the shooting justified. Noble's parents each retained their own lawyer. Warren Paboojian represented his father, Darren Noble, while Stuart Chandler of a separate firm represented his mother, Veronica Nelson. Both parents sued the city and the two officers in federal court in Fresno, alleging excessive force under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.
Paboojian challenged the department's account in public after the internal review. He said the department's policy amounted to shooting first and asking questions later, and told ABC30 the family looked forward to trying the case before a jury to decide whether the later shots were justified. Chandler questioned why the officers had not turned to a Taser, pepper spray or a bean bag shotgun. Both lawyers said the city had made no settlement offer at that point.
The case settled before trial. The Fresno City Council approved the agreement 6-0 in closed session on August 9, 2018, following a settlement conference in the federal case. The city paid $2.8 million in total: $1.29 million to Darren Noble, $1.49 million to Veronica Nelson, and $20,000 to Noble's estate. Each side bore its own attorney fees and costs, and the court filing states that the agreement is not an admission of liability by the city. Both lawsuits were dismissed.
The settlement also carried non-monetary terms. Fresno officers are to receive added instruction on high-risk traffic stops, including how to approach a wounded suspect safely and what alternatives to consider when a threat has diminished. The department also agreed that officers would carry shotguns and rifles on slings so they can move more quickly to less-lethal tools. The figure on this page is the father's share, the portion recovered by Paboojian's client.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.ABC30 Fresno, 'Attorneys representing Dylan Noble's family reject internal investigation results', Dec. 10, 2016·Archived copy
- 2.GV Wire, 'City Pays $2.8 Million in Shooting Death of Dylan Noble', Aug. 10, 2018·Archived copy
- 3.CourtListener, Noble v. City of Fresno, No. 1:16-cv-01690 (E.D. Cal.), docket
- 4.U.S. District Court E.D. Cal., Noble et al v. City of Fresno et al, No. 1:16-cv-01690, docket record·Archived copy
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