Top Civil Rights Verdicts and Settlements

$126 Million Verdict for a Teen Hit by an Off-Duty Police Sergeant, $90.1 Million Judgment Stands

On December 14, 2019 Emily Gaines, an 18-year-old Moore High School senior, was driving to take the ACT when Sgt. Kyle Lloyd of the Moore Police Department, off duty and rushing a key to another officer's patrol car for a department event, hit her broadside at 95 to 100 mph in a 50 zone. She died at the scene. On April 1, 2026 a federal jury returned $126,000,000. The court entered $90,000,000 against Lloyd, who is in prison, and cut the $36,000,000 against the City to $125,000 under Oklahoma's Governmental Tort Claims Act.

After trial: Reduced by statute. The $126,000,000 verdict of April 1, 2026 was entered April 6, 2026 as $90,000,000 against Kyle Lloyd on the Section 1983 claim and $125,000 against the City of Moore, capped by the Oklahoma tort claims act. See more

$45 Million New Haven Settlement for Randy Cox, Paralyzed in a Police Van, a Record Police Payout

Ben Crump, with Connecticut co-counsel Louis Rubano and R.J. Weber, secured a $45 million settlement from the City of New Haven for Richard "Randy" Cox, who was left paralyzed from the chest down after being thrown headfirst into the wall of a police transport van while handcuffed. At announcement it was described as the largest settlement ever reached in a U.S. police-misconduct case, surpassing the George Floyd settlement.

$33 Million Verdict for Man Who Begged for a Doctor for Twelve Days in Ottawa County Jail and Died

Terral Ellis II, 26, walked into the Ottawa County Jail voluntarily on an outstanding warrant. He developed bronchopneumonia and spent twelve days asking for medical care for seizures, sweating and pain. Jail video captured staff and the jail nurse mocking him. He died of septic shock on October 22, 2015.

After trial: Affirmed in full. The jury returned $33,000,000 in compensatory damages on September 8, 2023, and the Tenth Circuit affirmed on April 21, 2026 (Nos. See more

$33 Million Verdict for Physician Handcuffed During LAPD Traffic Stop in Budget Rental Car

A Haitian-American urological surgeon was subjected to a felony-level takedown on the Santa Monica Freeway after LAPD ran the plates on his rental car and received a stolen-vehicle alert caused by Budget Rent-A-Car's own plate error.

San Diego Pays $30 Million Over Fatal Police Shooting of a Fleeing Teenager

The Wilson family's 16-year-old son was shot and killed by a San Diego police officer on January 28, 2025, seconds after he ran into the officer's path while fleeing gunfire from another teenager at Santa Fe Depot. His parents sued the City of San Diego and the officer in San Diego Superior Court in June 2025, alleging the officer fired twice into the boy's back without warning, in violation of his civil rights and of department use of force standards. The San Diego City Council voted unanimously on December 9, 2025 to approve a $30 million settlement, with the city paying $5 million and the rest drawn from a public liability fund shared by member municipalities. San Diego attorneys King Aminpour and Michael VanGalio worked the case alongside lead attorney Nicholas Rowley.

After trial: Settlement approved by unanimous vote of the San Diego City Council, with no admission of liability. It is not subject to appeal, and the city has approved and funded it.

$27.75 Million Verdict for Prisoner Beaten Into a 33-Day Coma While No Staff Came

At CoreCivic's Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby, Montana, an inmate serving a double life sentence let himself out of his own locked pod and into Nathaniel Lake's, then beat and choked him for more than three and a half minutes with no staff intervention. Lake was in a coma for 33 days and has a permanent brain injury.

After trial: On appeal. The jury returned $27,750,000 on April 24, 2025, and CoreCivic said it would appeal. See more

$27 Million Settlement for Family of George Floyd, Announced as the Largest of Its Kind

Ben Crump, with co-counsel Antonio Romanucci and L. Chris Stewart, negotiated a $27 million settlement between the family of George Floyd and the City of Minneapolis, announced by the family's lawyers as the largest pretrial settlement of a civil rights wrongful-death claim in American history. The city council approved the payment unanimously in March 2021, while jury selection in Derek Chauvin's murder trial was underway blocks away.

Federal Jury Awards $25 Million to Jail Detainee Over an Untreated Blood Clot That Cost Him His Leg

Javier Tapia was 42 when a blood clot went unaddressed for weeks during his 2018 incarceration at the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma, Washington, leading to gangrene and the amputation of his leg below the knee. Tapia sued Pierce County and its jail medical contractor, NaphCare, Inc., alleging deliberate indifference to his medical needs under the Fourteenth Amendment. Pierce County settled separately for $1 million and was dismissed before trial. In April 2025, after a jury trial in Seattle, a federal jury found NaphCare liable and awarded Tapia $5 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages, a total of $25 million. The district court denied NaphCare's post-trial motions, and NaphCare has appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

After trial: On appeal. The district court denied NaphCare's motions for judgment as a matter of law, a new trial and remittitur, so the $25 million stood, and NaphCare appealed to the Ninth Circuit in August 2025. See more

Army Veteran Paralyzed at Police Traffic Stop Wins $20 Million Settlement from Yuba City

Gregory Gross, an Army veteran, was left paralyzed after Yuba City officers slammed him to the ground during a 2020 traffic stop, breaking his neck; Moseley Collins secured a $20 million settlement in July 2023.

$20 Million Settlement for Family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, Killed in Her Alley by Officer She Called

Justine Ruszczyk Damond called 911 to report a woman screaming behind her house, then walked out in her pajamas to meet the squad car. Officer Mohamed Noor shot her from the passenger seat. Minneapolis settled with her family for $20 million in May 2019, more than four times the largest police payout in the city's history.

After trial: Settlement agreed and approved; the civil case is final and was paid in full. The family directed $2 million of the $20 million to the Minneapolis Foundation's Fund for Safe Communities. See more

$42.75 Million Verdict Over Jail Death After Doughnut Shop Arrest

Erie Moore Sr., 57, a mill worker with no criminal record, was arrested on October 12, 2015 for disturbing the peace at a Monroe doughnut shop and taken to Richwood Correctional Center, a private jail LaSalle Corrections ran for the city. Over about 36 hours guards pepper-sprayed him repeatedly, struck him on the head, slammed him head-first into the floor, and left him roughly 90 minutes in an area with no cameras and no medical check. He died on November 14, 2015 of a brain hematoma; the parish coroner ruled it a homicide. On October 20, 2025 a federal jury awarded his three children $42,750,000. In May and June 2026 the court remitted it to $16,741,148.84 with a further fault reduction, and both sides appealed.

After trial: On appeal by both sides, so nothing is final. The October 20, 2025 verdict was $42,750,000, and the court remitted wrongful-death damages and cut punitive damages to $6,000,000 on May 7, 2026, then stated the revised judgment as $16,741,148.84 on June 17, 2026, roughly $15.6 million after a 12 percent fault reduction. See more

$15.01 Million Verdict for Woman, 21, Who Died of Dehydration in Duchesne County Jail

Madison Jensen, 21, was booked into the Duchesne County Jail in 2016 after her father contacted authorities for help with her heroin addiction and suicidal thoughts. Over four days of withdrawal she could not keep food or water down. She died of severe dehydration. The jury found the county had failed to train its staff or set any protocol for inmate medical problems.

After trial: The county appealed to the Tenth Circuit (No. 25-4060), and on November 10, 2025 the court dismissed the appeal on the parties' stipulation without ruling on the verdict. See more

Federal Jury Awards $13.1 Million to Parents of Man Shot in the Back by Riverside County Deputy

A federal jury in Los Angeles found that a Riverside County sheriff's corporal used excessive and negligent deadly force when he shot Jeffrey Monroy, a 33-year-old pool worker, in the back after Monroy stabbed him with a screwdriver. The jury put 70 percent of the fault on the deputy and 30 percent on Monroy. The court entered a $13.1 million judgment for Monroy's parents.

After trial: The judgment entered March 16, 2026 carried the jury's full damages with no reduction for the 30 percent comparative fault finding. The docket shows an April 2026 notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit and a new-trial motion, and the district court closed the case in September 2026, but we could not confirm how those were resolved. See more

$12.2 Million Settlement From Scott County After Untreated Jail Infection Led to Amputation of Both Arms

Terrance Winborn was booked into the Scott County Jail on a suspected DUI. A bacterial infection went untreated in custody until it caused septic shock, a heart attack and gangrene, and surgeons amputated both of his arms below the elbows. The county and its insurer settled his Section 1983 claim for $12.2 million.

After trial: Settlement paid and the lawsuit dismissed; final. Split $10.2 million from Scott County and $2 million from the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust. See more

City of Rochester Settles Daniel Prude Wrongful Death Suit for $12 Million

Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Rochester man in the middle of a mental health crisis, died in March 2020 after police officers put a spit hood over his head and held him face down on the pavement until he stopped breathing. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from asphyxia during restraint, though a state grand jury declined to indict the officers. Elliot D. Shields of Roth & Roth, LLP filed the family's federal civil rights suit against the City of Rochester in September 2020. On October 6, 2022, a federal judge approved a $12 million settlement, split evenly between pain-and-suffering and wrongful death claims, with the city admitting no liability.

After trial: Settlement approved by a federal judge on October 6, 2022 and funded by the City of Rochester, which denied liability. Because the case ended in a settlement, there was no judgment to appeal.

$12 Million Settlement and Police Reforms for Family of Breonna Taylor, Killed in Botched Louisville Raid

Ben Crump, alongside Louisville co-counsel Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker, settled the wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Breonna Taylor's mother against the City of Louisville for $12 million, the largest police-misconduct payout in the city's history, paired with a package of policing reforms the family made a non-negotiable condition of the deal.

$11.75 Million Settlement After Deputies Twice Walked Past an Unconscious, Beaten 18-Year-Old Inmate

Brian Ortiz, 18, was beaten by another inmate at Maricopa County's Fourth Avenue Jail; deputies saw him unconscious during two separate walkthroughs and did not intervene, and he did not reach a hospital until more than two hours after the assault. Maricopa County settled the resulting civil rights lawsuit for $11.75 million.

After trial: The case settled in 2022 without a trial, so there was no verdict for either side to appeal. No further litigation between the Ortiz family and Maricopa County has been publicly reported.

Trooper Mistook Her Stroke for Drunk Driving, Jury Holds State Liable

Cheryl Rhines pulled onto the shoulder of Route 78 in Newark in October 2017 while having a stroke. A New Jersey State Police trooper with about two years on the job read her slurred speech, facial drooping and inability to stand as intoxication, arrested her, and had her taken to a State Police station instead of a hospital five minutes away, delaying treatment by roughly two and a half hours. An Essex County jury found the state liable in January 2025 and put her total damages at $19.1 million, then attributed 40% of her disability to the stroke itself. After that reduction and an adjustment for disability benefits she had already received, the judgment came to $10,882,432.20, and the trial judge refused to disturb it in April 2025. Dennis M. Donnelly represented Rhines, who has global aphasia and can no longer work.

After trial: Reduced and paid. The $19.1 million damages finding was cut by the 40 percent share attributed to the stroke itself and adjusted for disability benefits, giving a judgment of $10,882,432.20 (Daily Voice, February 2025). See more

Elk Grove Village Settles for $10.5 Million Over Police Shooting of Man in Mental Health Crisis

Jack Murray, 24, was shot and killed by Elk Grove Village police on December 1, 2023, after he called 911 during a mental health crisis. His mother sued the village and its officers for wrongful death in Cook County Circuit Court. In June 2026 the village board approved a $10.5 million settlement, funded almost entirely by the village's insurance carriers.

After trial: Settled before trial in Cook County Circuit Court with no appeal. The village's insurance carriers funded the settlement apart from the village's deductible. See more

$10.25 Million Verdict for Paralyzed Man Left on Tulsa Jail Cell Floor for Days

Elliott Earl Williams, 37, was arrested in Owasso on an obstruction complaint in October 2011. Shortly after booking at the Tulsa County Jail he suffered a severe neck injury that paralysed him from the chest down. He was left on the floor of a medical-unit cell, unable to move, for days, and died of complications of the untreated injury and dehydration.

After trial: Paid. The jury returned $10,250,000, and the Tenth Circuit affirmed liability and the awards on August 20, 2019 (935 F.3d 960), remanding only on a possible setoff. See more