A former Denver police officer was never held accountable for shooting into a crowd, injuring six bystanders. That is, not until a civil rights suit brought by Siddhartha Rathod, name partner at Rathod Mohamedbhai, the largest civil rights firm in the state, and John Lee, name partner at Fuicelli & Lee Injury Lawyers. In its $20 million verdict, the jurors sent a message that “you need to take responsibility,” Siddhartha explains. In Part I of this case breakdown, host Keith Fuicelli (John’s partner) moderates the discussion to explore how the trial team delivered their message. Come back in January for Part 2, when the three young attorneys who handled much of this case will join Keith to reveal how they prepared and won the “monster” verdict.

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Episode Snapshot

1. Siddhartha and John outline the procedural landmines in civil rights cases: Bringing a federal 1983 claim can result in removal to federal court, while bringing a tort claim can expose clients to a Trinity hearing and potential fee/cost liability at the beginning of the case.
2. The July 2022 incident occurred in downtown Denver when police pursued a man who was wearing a hoodie with a bulge in the pocket. As that man kept reaching into his pocket, the officers became concerned that he wielded a weapon.
3. The officers’ suspect darted behind a car and, when cornered, tossed away his weapon. Down the block, Officer Ramos fired at the suspect and injured six bystanders, who became the team’s clients.
4. Despite having a half dozen different body cams and a halo cam, details of the event remained in dispute because the cameras capture different frames per second.
5. The trial team did use video showing that the defendant didn’t act reasonably, including how he had his flashlight pointed in the wrong direction.
6. Siddhartha and John made the strategic decision to have younger attorneys—many in their first five years of practice—handle 75% of the trial. As Siddhartha explains, senior attorneys wouldn't have done as good a job as the younger team members because this was their first trial, and they were extraordinarily well prepared.
7. “They weren't outliers. They weren't radicals,” Siddhartha says of the jurors. “They were enraged that Denver never held the officer accountable.” Result: $20 million verdict.

The information contained in this podcast is not intended to be taken as legal advice. The information provided by Fuicelli & Lee is intended to provide general information regarding comprehensive injury and accident attorney services for clients in the state of Colorado.