SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The County of San Diego has reached a settlement with the family of Lucky Phounsy, who died after he was beaten, tased, and restrained with his hands and feet bound behind his back by deputies.
According to court documents obtained by ABC 10News, “The parties have now reached a settlement but need additional time to complete the appropriate paperwork.”
The court record talks about the next steps but does not include any dollar amount. In March, a jury sided with the family of Lucky Phounsy. The jury awarded $85 million.
Several months later the judge agreed with the jury’s finding of wrongful death but threw out the dollar amount. In a court filing the judge wrote, “Considering the entire record, the size of the jury’s wrongful death award is far out of proportion to the evidence and indicates that the jury may have impermissibly included in the award some measure of Plaintiffs’ emotional distress, or some amount intended to punish Defendants.”
In her conclusion, Judge Marilyn Huff wrote, “For the reasons above, the Court denies Defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law, denies Defendants’ motion for a new trial as to liability and damages for Mr. Phounsy’s pain and suffering, and grants Defendants’ motion for a new trial on wrongful death damages. 22 Accordingly, the Court vacates the judgment dated March 16, 2022.”
Phounsy got into a confrontation with deputies in April 2015. According to court documents, he was acting paranoid throughout the day and experienced a mental health crisis.
Court records say, “Mr. Phounsy called 9-1-1 for help, and San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies responded. During the approximately forty-five-minute altercation that followed between Mr. Phounsy and the sheriff’s deputies, Mr. Phounsy was tased multiple times, punched, handcuffed, put in maximum restraints, strapped to a gurney, and had prolonged pressure applied to his head and torso.”
Court documents say while in the ambulance to the hospital, Phounsy went into cardiac arrest and coded. “Mr. Phounsy remained in a coma at the hospital for several days until his family made the decision to remove him from life support.”
ABC 10News reached out to the county for a comment on the court filings. We have yet to hear back.
