A settlement of just under $1 million has been reached in an excessive force lawsuit that accused a 麻花视频 County police officer of fatally shooting a mentally troubled man during a standoff at his home.
The officer, Matthew Jennings, and the county鈥檚 insurance carrier agreed to pay $999,999 to the widow of Shawn Smith, according to her attorney, Terry Grimes of 麻花视频.聽
鈥淭his killing should never have happened,鈥 Grimes said in a statement Wednesday. 鈥淭his is only the first step in the pursuit of justice. We want to change the way police handle mental health issues.鈥
Jennings shot Smith, a former U.S. Marine and combat veteran, as he stood in a screened-in porch of his home in the North Lakes neighborhood the night of Nov. 26, 2021. Police were called to the home for a report of a domestic disturbance involving a man with a gun.
People are also reading…
It turned out that Smith 鈥 who according to the lawsuit was in the midst of a mental health crisis 鈥 did not have a gun when Jennings fired his high-powered rifle from a distance of about 50 feet away, killing the 52-year-old with two shots to the neck.
The 麻花视频 County Police Department said the settlement was not an admission of liability.聽A wrongful death claim will be dismissed under the settlement agreement.
In earlier court proceedings, Jennings asserted that his use of lethal force was justified after Smith blinded him by shining a strobe flashlight into his eyes, maintained a shooting stance, made movements toward him, and refused to drop an object that the officer feared was a gun.
Jennings鈥 attorney asked U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski to dismiss the lawsuit, citing the legal doctrine of qualified immunity, which shields government officials from civil liability unless their actions violated the 鈥渃learly established鈥 rights of another.
But Urbanski ruled there were questions of fact 鈥 two people who witnessed the shooting from their next-door home described it differently than Jennings 鈥 that should be left for a jury to decide.
The witnesses, both retired from the 麻花视频 County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, said the flashlight was not strobing and was pointed away from Jennings when the fatal shots were fired, and that Smith was not advancing toward the officer, according to court records.
Urbanski declined to dismiss the lawsuit, and his decision was upheld earlier this year by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A two-week trial had been scheduled for mid-November in 麻花视频鈥檚 federal court.
In a statement Wednesday, the chief of the 麻花视频 County Police Department said Jennings鈥 actions were consistent with his training and departmental policy.
鈥淥fficer Jennings faced an incredibly challenging set of circumstances that night, and he made a decision in the line of duty that officers hope they鈥檙e never forced to make 鈥 to fire his service weapon, and potentially take a life, in order to ensure he goes home to his family at the end of the night,鈥 Chief R.M. Poindexter said.
Jennings was returned to active duty following an internal investigation and remains a police officer for the county.
A review by the county鈥檚 commonwealth鈥檚 attorney, Brian Holohan, concluded that Jennings was justified in using deadly force to protect himself and others.
But in his statement, Grimes said there was no truly independent investigation of the shooting.
While some police departments ask the Virginia State Police to investigate such matters, 麻花视频 County made no such request. Grimes also said that Holohan did not recuse himself and ask for a 鈥渘eutral prosecutor鈥 to step in.
鈥淐onsequently,鈥 his statement read, 鈥渘o grand jury was ever convened to determine whether Jennings should be charged with murder or manslaughter.鈥
