ST PAUL, Minn. — A jury in a federal lawsuit found that a St. Paul police officer unconstitutionally used deadly force against Cordale Handy back in March of 2017.
Handy, 29, was shot and killed on Mar. 15, 2017 while police were responding to a domestic violence call. Handy was shot after investigators say he raised his gun at two St. Paul officers. Both officers — Nathaniel Younce and Mikko Norman — fired their guns and Handy died at the scene. In December of 2017, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and his staff determined that the two officers' use of force was justified.
On Monday, however, a federal jury found that Younce violated Handy's constitutional rights. An attorney for Handy's family said in a press conference Tuesday that the family was awarded $11.5 million in damages, including $1.5 million in punitive damages.
"This is one of the first times in the country that an officer has been held liable when it was not caught on tape," said Kevin O'Connor, who helped represent the Handy family during the civil rights trial. "... This is a significant victory,"
Handy's mother, Kimberly Handy-Jones, also spoke Tuesday afternoon about the ruling, saying "justice delayed does not mean justice denied."
"I've watched them demonize, victimize, criminalize and demoralize my child, but today we humanize Cordale Quinn Handy," she said. "And if there's any family out there that's going through what I've been through, continue to fight. Don't give up. Keep going."
A spokesperson for Choi's office released a statement standing by their decision to not charge Younce or Norman back in 2017, saying that the civil lawsuit's decision was based on a "preponderance of evidence" rather than "proof beyond reasonable doubt."
"Based upon all the information presented to us by the Minnesota Bureau of Apprehension (BCA) in 2017, we declined to criminally prosecute Officer Nathaniel Younce and Officer Mikko Norman, finding that the use of deadly force by both officers was justified under the law given the information presented," the statement reads, in part. "While highly doubtful that this civil verdict applying a different standard of proof would change our decision, we are open to the BCA investigating the record developed in this federal civil rights lawsuit and re-submitting any newly discovered and significant evidence or testimony that is at odds with what was previously presented to us by the BCA for review in 2017."
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter also released a statement saying he was surprised by the decision as well as the amount of money that was awarded in damages.
"I have always spoken clearly about the high standard to which I hold our police officers," Carter's statement reads, in part. "In reviewing the details of this case, I simply cannot conclude that those involved had other reasonable options to immediately resolve this escalating crisis and prevent further loss of life without force."
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