The Dallas City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a $2.5 million settlement in the civil rights lawsuit against four Dallas officers accused in Tony Timpa’s death in police custody.
The award comes about five months after a federal jury determined that three of the officers violated Timpa’s rights in 2016, but that two were shielded by the controversial legal protection qualified immunity. The jury had awarded $1 million to Timpa’s teenage son, but decided not to give any money to Timpa’s parents or his estate.
Geoff Henley — who represents Timpa’s mother, his son and his estate — said this week that the $2.5 million includes the money for Timpa’s son, who was 8 when his father died, as well as the “issue of attorneys’ fees, pre-judgment interest and litigation risks associated with motions for new trial.”
He declined to delineate how much each party would receive but said the award also “resolves the claims” of Vicki Timpa — Timpa’s mother — and Timpa’s estate.
The council approved the settlement without any public discussion Wednesday.
The city of Dallas, which represented the officers, said in a statement that the agreement was with three of the four plaintiffs. Joe Timpa, Timpa’s father, was represented by a different law firm.
“This settlement allows the jury’s verdict to be fulfilled, and the litigation to be finally concluded as to these plaintiffs,” the city’s statement said.
Dallas police spokespeople declined to comment.
Timpa, 32, died in August 2016 after he called 911 from the parking lot of a porn store on Mockingbird Lane and reported he was afraid and unarmed, adding he was off his prescription medication for anxiety and schizophrenia. Body-camera footage shows he was handcuffed behind his back and pinned facedown by officers as he yelled for help. When he became unresponsive, officers joked about waking him up for school.
He died as one of the officers — Dustin Dillard — knelt on his back for about 14 minutes.
An autopsy ruled his death a homicide caused by sudden cardiac death due to “the toxic effects of cocaine and the stress associated with physical restraint.” The Timpas’ attorneys argued he died of positional asphyxia — when people can’t breathe because of their position. The officers’ attorneys pointed to the autopsy report and argued his “secret life” of substance abuse, mental illness and heart conditions contributed to his death.
Dillard, who apologized to Timpa’s family during trial but said he did “nothing wrong,” was accused in the lawsuit of excessive force. Raymond Dominguez, Danny Vasquez and Kevin Mansell faced failure to intervene allegations.
Mansell — the highest-ranking officer that night who testified he wasn’t present for much of the time Timpa was restrained — retired. Dillard, Dominguez and Vasquez are still with the department.
The jury found that Dillard, Dominguez and Vasquez violated Timpa’s rights, but only Dominguez was not shielded by qualified immunity. They reached that decision because Dominguez had the most experience patrolling the streets and had faced a previous, unrelated false report allegation, a juror later said.
Henley had asked the jury to award more than $300 million. He has called the verdict “astounding,” and legal experts said it exemplified how hard it is to understand qualified immunity, a shield for police officers and public officials that even federal judges have difficulty interpreting.
Even though the jury found Dillard violated the Fourth Amendment, qualified immunity applied because they found a reasonable officer would not have known the restraint he used was unlawful.
After the verdict, two of the eight jurors said they felt they’d failed Timpa’s family and regretted that they didn’t fight harder for a larger award. They said the panel was worried that the officers would pay out of pocket.
The city of Dallas indemnifies officers, meaning they’re exempt from paying for actual damages themselves. It’s not admissible, however, to tell a jury that during trial, Henley has said.
The settlement approved Wednesday came after Henley filed a motion for a new trial for actual damages. He has said that in other courts, if a jury determines someone is liable for an injury, they must award “compensable actual” damages and it’s not discretionary.
