A panel of seven jurors agreed with lawyers representing the Booker family, that five Denver sheriff’s deputies went too far when subduing Marvin Booker in July, 2010.
The verdict came about three months after the city agreed to pay $3.25 million to another former inmate who was choked by a jail deputy and scalded by inmates. And it came one month after a jury awarded nearly $2 million to a family targeted in a mistaken police raid.
"I think the Colorado community is finally saying enough is enough," Booker family attorney Mari Newman said. "It seems like the police can't police themselves. If law enforcement doesn't do something then the community has to step in. I definitely think this is a wake-up call for the city of Denver."
In an effort to thwart the plaintiffs case, city of Denver defense attorneys actually accepted liability for the five killers. In doing so, the goal was to suppress evidence of prior bad acts.
Tom Rice, the private attorney representing Denver, argued that plaintiffs should not be allowed to present evidence of other excessive-force cases because of the city's stipulation of liability. If the deputies named in the lawsuit must defend not only their actions but those of other deputies it would prejudice them, Rice said.
But plaintiff attorney Darold Killmer responded that the department and the deputies are jointly named as defendants in the lawsuit.
"How they train their deputies consistently leads to police brutality," he said. "We have to show fault. The way you do that is by saying this is how the city runs its business."
Jackson said he will explain to jurors that if they find the deputies at fault in Booker's death it means that Denver automatically is responsible, while appearing to side with Rice's position.
In the end, it resulted in the largest single judgment against the city's police/sheriff's departments, to date.
July 9, 2010
Mr.Booker was being processed after being arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and an outstanding warrant for drug possession, on July 9, 2010, when events quickly spun out of control. According to two witnesses also being processed that morning.
Both say that Booker, 56, was asleep in a chair in a holding area of the jail when his name was called and he was ordered to a processing desk.
Half-asleep about 3 a.m., Booker walked to the desk in his socks, forgetting to put on his shoes. The female deputy ordered Booker to sit in a chair in front of the desk.
Booker responded that he wished to stand. When the deputy threatened to have him placed in a holding cell if he didn't sit, Booker told her he would go to the holding cell, said Christopher Maten, 25, who had been arrested that morning for resisting arrest in a confrontation with a parking-meter attendant.
The deputy yelled at him repeatedly to stop, got up and followed Booker. Booker turned and repeated that he was getting his shoes, Maten said.
The deputy grabbed Booker by the arm and put a lock on him, John Yedo, 54, said. Booker, who was 5 feet 5 and weighed 175 * pounds, pushed her away. At that point, four other deputies wrestled Booker to the concrete floor. They slid down two steps to the floor in the sitting area. Yedo said the deputies each grabbed a limb while he struggled.
" 'Get the Taser. Get the Taser,' " Yedo quoted one of the deputies as saying.
* Marvin's weight is listed at 135 pounds in the autopsy
Corroborating Yedo and Maten's version of what they saw, is the security video from that morning. There is no audio, but fair warning, the footage is disturbing enough without it.
The coroner's report, which ruled the death homicide, supports Yedo, Maten and the video. Link to the full (pdf) report.
"When he turned to return to the holding area for his shoes, the booking officer called him towards and isolation cell, and when he failed to come to her, she went to the holding area and placed her arms on his. He swung his arms to shake her off,"
"The booking deputy was joined by three other officers who forced the decedent first to a chair, and then face down on the floor. Two officers struggled to cuff his hands behind his back; another tried to control his legs; a fourth lay across his upper back and applied a carotid "sleeper" hold around his neck.
The sleeper hold was applied to him for two minutes and 30 seconds, but deputies said it was released intermittently to check whether Booker was still resisting.
After Booker was placed face down in the holding cell, a deputy remained on his back for another 90 seconds to two minutes.
The next four years would be mired in protests and legal wranglings, with both sides accusing and denying charges of misconduct. Even though none of the five deputies involved in Marvin's death were ever disciplined, their colleagues feelings were clearly hurt. Just nine days ago, as the trial wound down, over 100 members of the Denver Sheriff's Department staged a rally - denying culpability while accusing inmates of gaming the system, and city officials of being complacent.
The rally was organized by the Fraternal Order of Police Denver Sheriff Lodge 27, which represents the majority of deputies in collective bargaining.
Several deputies who attended the rally declined to give their names to The Denver Post, saying they feared retaliation from top city officials for speaking out.
The Fraternal Order of Police also claims inmates are becoming more aggressive and are provoking deputies into use of force as they look for an opportunity to file a lawsuit.
Poor souls can't catch a break. Fueling their persecution complex, the Deputies were interrupted that day by a group of protesters, who told them to get over it.
The Denver Post Editorial Board also took them to task.
The audacity of Denver sheriff's deputies
Denver sheriff's deputies don't have a good sense of timing, choosing to hold a rally on Monday to build public support while the city defends itself in an excessive-force case involving the sheriff's department.
And it gets worse.
The family of former inmate Marvin Booker, who is suing the city, crashed Monday's event and hoisted a sign that said, "Stop whining, murderous crybabies."
Epic PR fail.
Few want to hear the lament of sheriff's deputies who are responsible for recent disastrous outcomes, including the city's $3.25 million settlement with former inmate Jamal Hunter, who was choked by a deputy and scalded by other inmates while a deputy looked away.
So all in all, some justice has been served.