Federal appeals court again upholds $4.1-million payout in deputies’ shooting of homeless couple
A federal appeals court has for a second time upheld a $4.1-million award against Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies for shooting a homeless couple who were staying in a friend’s backyard shed.
The 2010 shooting occurred during a search for a wanted parolee who had been spotted in the Lancaster neighborhood where the couple were staying.
Angel Mendez and Jennifer Lynn Garcia, who had no permanent home, were napping in the plywood shed when two deputies entered without a warrant and without knocking or announcing themselves.
One of the deputies spied what he thought was a gun and said he saw Mendez reaching for it. The deputies fired 15 bullets at the couple.
The shooting required Mendez to have one leg amputated below the knee. Garcia, who was five months pregnant, was shot once in back and suffered bullet wounds to her hand.
The 9th Circuit upheld the award for the couple in 2016, but the county appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court in May 2017 sent the case back to the 9th Circuit, ruling the lower court had used the wrong analysis.
Applying a different legal analysis, the 9th Circuit again upheld the award last week.
Leonard J. Feldman, who represented the couple, said he did not believe the U.S. Supreme Court would review the latest decision because it hinged in part on California law.
“The Supreme Court doesn’t typically grant review of issues of state law,” Feldman said.
The attorney representing Los Angeles County in the case could not be reached for comment.
Twitter: @mauradolan
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