St. Paul Ordered to Pay $7.5 Million in Lawsuit Over Fatal Police Shooting
A federal judge has ordered the city of St. Paul to pay $1.7 million in attorneys’ fees after a jury found that a police officer used excessive force in the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Cordale Handy. This payment is in addition to $3.25 million in compensatory damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages, plus interest, bringing the total amount to over $7.5 million.
The city of St. Paul has already made the payment, according to a notice filed in federal court by Handy’s mother, Kimberly Handy-Jones, and her attorneys. The lawsuit was a rare instance of a case against the city of St. Paul being heard by a jury and resulted in the largest amount ever awarded in a case involving the city.
Cordale Handy (Courtesy of Kimberly Handy-Jones)
Background of the Case
The incident occurred on March 15, 2017, when St. Paul Police officers Nathaniel Younce and Mikko Norman responded to a 911 call about a female screaming in an apartment building. Handy, who lived in the building with his girlfriend, had fired 16 gunshots at a couch in his apartment, reportedly due to a psychotic episode caused by the use of a stimulant drug known as “bath salts.”
When the officers encountered Handy outside the building, they reported that he raised his gun toward Norman, and they fired. However, Handy’s girlfriend and a neighbor testified that he did not point the gun. The previous jury concluded that Younce had violated Handy’s constitutional rights and wrongfully caused his death, while Norman was found not civilly liable.
Legal Proceedings and Outcome
The first civil trial, held in summer 2023, resulted in a jury decision that the city of St. Paul should pay Handy’s family $1.5 million in punitive damages and $10 million in compensatory damages. However, the city objected to the amount of compensatory damages, and a federal judge agreed. Handy-Jones opted for another trial to decide compensatory damages, which was held in January and resulted in a jury decision of $3.25 million in compensatory damages.
Both officers have since left the St. Paul Police Department. According to a spokesperson for the mayor, the city is self-insured, meaning the payment will come out of the city’s budget. The city is taking cost-saving measures to help cover the full cost of the payment.
For Handy’s mother, the payment is a legal victory, but it’s “always a little hollow because you can’t pay for the loss of Cordale,” said attorney Paul Bosman, who represented her. St. Paul City Attorney Lyndsey Olson stated that the judge’s rulings surprised the city, but they have chosen to accept the rulings rather than prolong the matter with additional appeals.
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