The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky.- A jury Monday rejected a claim by the estate of a 50-year-old black man who was handcuffed and fatally shot by a police detective.
The verdict followed a two-week trial stemming from the 2002 death of James Taylor. Taylor’s estate sued Detective Michael O’Neil, who is white, contending Taylor was wrongfully killed.
The shooting sparked outrage among Louisville’s black population. Taylor was the sixth black man killed by police in four years.
O’Neil’s attorney, Steve Snyder, said Monday that the Jefferson County jury heard from experts who testified that O’Neil acted according to training.
Aubrey Williams, the attorney for Taylor’s estate, said he planned to appeal.
“There was absolutely no justification that two able-bodied professionals should be unable to subdue a handcuffed man, hands cuffed behind his back, and then shoot him in the back two times in addition to all the shots that entered his body,” Williams said.
O’Neil and his partner, Bryan Luckett, entered Taylor’s apartment after hearing a woman cry for help, police said. Officers then handcuffed Taylor, who they said had been drinking alcohol and smoking crack. When Taylor lunged at the officers with a boxcutter knife, Luckett ran out of the room and O’Neil shot Taylor 11 times, police said.
A grand jury declined to indict either officer.
The lawsuit - which did not ask for a specific amount of money - had originally named O’Neil and Luckett, but Luckett, who did not fire any shots, was removed from the case in September.