The lawyers representing Payne’s family did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the city’s appeal, but said via a previous statement that the jury made the right decision.
The City of Houston is appealing a $13 million jury award to the family of a man killed in a 2021 crash with a Houston Police Department officer.
Less than a month after the jury’s verdict, the city filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that it was “unfairly surprised” and the damages awarded were “excessive.” The judge presiding over the case in the Southern District Court of Texas denied the city’s motion last Friday. On Tuesday, the city filed an appeal to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, requesting the court to overturn the $13 million judgment.
The judgment was awarded in November after a jury found that the City of Houston’s polices allowed HPD officers to drive recklessly, calling that “the moving force” in a man’s “death and violation of his constitutional rights,” according to federal court documents. The jury also ruled that the city “was deliberately indifferent” in adopting an “inadequate” policy…