Jury Awards $1 in Damages to Family of Black Man Assaulted by Cops in Mistaken Identity Case

Atlantic BlackStar

The family of a Black man assaulted by police in a case of mistaken identity is outraged after a jury awarded them just $1 in damages stemming from the traumatic incident.

Four years ago, three police officers unlawfully entered the South Bend, Indiana home of DeShawn Franklin, 22, in search of a domestic violence suspect sporting dreadlocks.

According to the Indianapolis Star, officers roused Franklin from his sleep and repeatedly punched him in the face and upper body. They also used a Taser to subdue him. Franklin, who was just 18 at the time, was then handcuffed and detained in the back of a squad car for the whole neighborhood to see.

Officers quickly saw their mistake, however, realizing that they had the wrong guy.

Franklin’s family later filed a civil suit alleging excessive force, unlawful entry and false imprisonment among other things. Just this month, a federal jury in Fort Wayne found the officers liable for the unlawful entry and unlawful seizure of the Franklin’s home. However, the family’s pain and suffering was determined to be worth $1.

Per the Indy Star, each officer who ignored the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment was ordered to pay a dollar to Franklin and each of his parents for each rights violation. The family was awarded $18 in total.

The paper also reports that the city is requiring Franklin’s family and their attorney to shell out roughly $1,500 for expenses incurred by the city in defending their case. Thanks to an ambiguous federal law, the city can collect money due because the jury award was less than a settlement offered to the Franklin family.

“I think that’s shocking. I think that’s a travesty of justice,” said Rev. Mario Sims, a local pastor and activist in South Bend. “It creates a very difficult environment when you deal with African-American people you tell them to trust the system, and this family did all the right things, they did trust the system, and essentially, even though the jury found their rights were violated, the jury didn’t value those rights.” [MORE]