A federal jury has awarded $6 million to a man who said two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies badly beat him during a traffic stop.
Jurors ruled in favor of Deon Dirks Thursday in a civil rights lawsuit, finding the deputies used excessive force and maliciously prosecuted him.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore says the department believes the deputies used appropriate force and is considering an appeal.
Dirks' attorney, Glen Jonas, says his client was stopped and ordered from his car in Compton in 2007. He says the deputies pepper-sprayed and punched Dirks, slammed him face-first into the sidewalk and repeatedly kneed him in the face, breaking his eye socket.
He was tried for assault on a police officer and resisting arrest but the charges were later dismissed.
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/man-who-says-la-deputies-beat-him-awarded-m/article_e9bcd110-0e27-581d-ba53-8837ad6a932f.html#ixzz1s2B5UI6Q
Jurors ruled in favor of Deon Dirks Thursday in a civil rights lawsuit, finding the deputies used excessive force and maliciously prosecuted him.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore says the department believes the deputies used appropriate force and is considering an appeal.
Dirks' attorney, Glen Jonas, says his client was stopped and ordered from his car in Compton in 2007. He says the deputies pepper-sprayed and punched Dirks, slammed him face-first into the sidewalk and repeatedly kneed him in the face, breaking his eye socket.
He was tried for assault on a police officer and resisting arrest but the charges were later dismissed.
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/man-who-says-la-deputies-beat-him-awarded-m/article_e9bcd110-0e27-581d-ba53-8837ad6a932f.html#ixzz1s2B5UI6Q
