BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A federal jury in Fresno has awarded $30.5 million to the family of a man fatally shot by a Kern County sheriff’s deputy after a traffic stop in Mojave — marking what’s believed to be the second largest jury verdict for a police shooting in California, attorneys said.
The jury on Wednesday found Deputy Jason Ayala “used excessive and unreasonable force and was negligent” in the October 2020 shooting that killed Mickel Lewis Sr., according to a release from the Woodland Hills-based Law Offices of Dale K. Galipo, which represented Lewis’ family.
“I’m very pleased with the jury verdict and thankful to the jurors for giving justice and fair compensation for the family of Mickel Lewis, Sr.,” Galipo said in the release…