September 25, 2024
On September 23, 2024, Willkie secured a pro bono victory for a client whose constitutional rights were violated, as confirmed by a unanimous jury verdict and damages award in the tens of thousands.
After a 6-day jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California before Judge Jeffrey S. White, the jury found that a correctional officer employed by Salinas Valley State Prison used excessive force against our client, an inmate in the same prison, during an incident in the prison yard on August 12, 2021. The incident led to our client sustaining serious and lingering physical and mental injuries including a broken nose that required surgery and ongoing PTSD symptoms. Jurors heard from the defendant, officers who partnered with him that day, experts, and two inmate eyewitnesses, and ultimately found that our client’s Eighth Amendment right, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment, was violated.
The jury awarded our client both compensatory and punitive damages – an unusual outcome for cases of this nature. This case came to Willkie through the Federal Pro Bono Project.
The all-associate Willkie trial team included Argemira Flórez, Yongbin Chang, Rodolfo Rivera Aquino, Lily Grisafi, and Zoe Packman. Associates conducted voir dire; gave opening and closing statements; argued evidentiary issues; and performed all direct, cross, and redirect examinations of fact and expert witnesses. The team was supervised by partners Benedict Hur and Barrington Dyer.
After a 6-day jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California before Judge Jeffrey S. White, the jury found that a correctional officer employed by Salinas Valley State Prison used excessive force against our client, an inmate in the same prison, during an incident in the prison yard on August 12, 2021. The incident led to our client sustaining serious and lingering physical and mental injuries including a broken nose that required surgery and ongoing PTSD symptoms. Jurors heard from the defendant, officers who partnered with him that day, experts, and two inmate eyewitnesses, and ultimately found that our client’s Eighth Amendment right, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment, was violated.
The jury awarded our client both compensatory and punitive damages – an unusual outcome for cases of this nature. This case came to Willkie through the Federal Pro Bono Project.
The all-associate Willkie trial team included Argemira Flórez, Yongbin Chang, Rodolfo Rivera Aquino, Lily Grisafi, and Zoe Packman. Associates conducted voir dire; gave opening and closing statements; argued evidentiary issues; and performed all direct, cross, and redirect examinations of fact and expert witnesses. The team was supervised by partners Benedict Hur and Barrington Dyer.
