San Diego to pay $975K to Latino Man in Fatal Police Shooting

The city of San Diego agreed to pay $975,000 to the family of a mentally disturbed man shot to death by police three years ago, it was reported today. The agreement, which is not covered by insurance, sets aside a nearly $900,000 federal jury award against the city and prevents the family's lawyer from seeking additional attorney's fees or punitive damages, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Alejandro Jimenez, 24, of El Cajon was shot 31 times after fighting with officers in a Midway area strip mall parking lot March 22, 2002. On Monday, jurors found that officers were negligent in the fatal shooting, the newspaper reported. Jurors found that a sergeant who shot Jimenez with a beanbag shotgun used excessive force – the standard for civil rights violations – but the fatal shooting did not constitute excessive force, the Union-Tribune reported. Those findings were dismissed as part of the settlement reached Tuesday. "There will be no judgement against the officers," City Attorney Michael Aguirre told the newspaper. "There will be no judgement against the city." To become final, the agreement must be approved by the City Council, which is scheduled to consider it next Monday, Aguirre told the Union-Tribune. The city is self-insured and – if approved – the settlement will be paid out of a liability fund, city officials told the newspaper. [more]