Bertrand et al. v. Patten et Al.

Jan 01, 2014

OUTCOME: $2,000,000 Settlement

Smith v. Gorman et al.

May 31, 2013

OUTCOME: Total Settlement: $3,075,000

Part of team that brought civil rights wrongful death action on behalf of the next of kin of David Cornelius Smith, who died at the hands of two Minneapolis police officers. Smith was a mentally ill m ... an, who had committed no crime, but was acting bizarrely at the Minneapolis YMCA. The officers arrived, a struggle ensued, and Smith was ultimately handcuffed and placed in the prone position with weight on his back for 4 1/2 minutes. The officers failed to monitor his condition during the restraint, and Smith died from complications of mechanical asphyxiation. This is the second highest payout for a police brutality case in Minneapolis history.