A jury has awarded the family who was fatally shot by a Culver City police officer more than two years ago $8.8 million May 8.
Lejoy Grissom, who was pulled over by Culver City police April 25, 2010 and was shot by Officer Luis Martinez. Police suspected Grissom of robbing a nearby Radio Shack store.
It was determined later that Grissom had indeed committed the robbery.
The victim was unarmed when police pulled him into a parking lot and ordered him out of his car. By that time, four other officers had joined the action.
Martinez fired three rounds, all of them, which struck Grissom.
“I think it’s a reasonable verdict,” said Matthew McNicholas, a Los Angeles -based attorney who represents one of Grissom’s four children, who are all under the age of 10.
There were discrepancies in the testimony of Martinez and the four officers. Under oath, Martinez claimed after Grissom was ordered from his car he suddenly turned toward them with a shiny object in his hand that appeared to be a gun, according to the deceased man’s attorneys.
The other officers contradicted that account, testifying that Grissom was not carrying a weapon or object when he was shot and was facing them at the time.
McNicholas thinks the jury factored in the contradictions. “Jurors are very smart people,” he said. “They judge each person on what they say. It doesn’t matter who they are.
“Jurors know how to evaluate credibility.”
The attorney said in federal court the jury pool is much larger than in state courts.
In the Grissom case, there were members of the jury who came from as far away as Santa Barbara and Ventura, which have enclaves of conservative voters who often give police officers the benefit of the doubt in wrongful death cases.
“Many of them can be very conservative,” McNicholas noted.
Culver City City Manager John Nachbar said the city is still deciding on its next course of action- whether or not to appeal the verdict. “The matter is under consideration by the various parties,” he said.
Nachbar added that the decision could come “within the next couple of weeks.”
Martinez was cleared of any wrongdoing in two earlier probes, once by the district attorney’s office and by the county Sheriff’s Department, which investigates officer-involved shooting by Culver City police officers.
McNicholas said he could not comment on the sheriff’s investigation. “I don’t know what standard the sheriff’s department uses,” said the attorney.
The verdict was unanimous.
Each of the deceased’s children will receive $2 million. The jury added an additional $825, 000 in compensation.
Culver City Police Chief Donald Pedersen could not be reached for comment.
