A man who was hit with a stun gun 11 times and struck dozens of times by Columbus police officers as they arrested him on warrants in 2017 has settled a federal lawsuit with the city.
Columbus City Council voted Monday night to approve a $225,000 settlement with Timothy Davis.
Davis initially lost a federal suit against the city and numerous police officers in 2021, when a jury decided the officers didn't violate his rights during the arrest, which was recorded in a bystander's video.
“It was pretty horrendous. (He was) beaten to the point of kidney failure. Miraculously, he recovered. But it was wholly unnecessary, particularly the part when he was continued to be beaten by these officers, even when he was face down on the ground," said Davis' attorney Sarah Gelsomino.
The defendants in the case were the City of Columbus and eight officers with the Columbus Division of Police: Matthew Baker, Alan Bennett, Sean Connair, Eric Everhart, Anthony Johnson, LeVon Morefield, Robert Reffitt and Ryan Steele.
Federal Chief Judge Algenon L. Marbley re-opened the case in 2022 when he granted part of Davis' motion for a new trial.
The judge found the jury's original verdicts still applied to much of the case, and let the verdicts stand on issues that happened when police first initiated the arrest. But, he found any reasonable jury "should have concluded that the force utilized was greater than necessary" later in the arrest as officers used a Taser on Davis for 55 seconds, well over the recommended usage of 15 seconds, and continued to hit Davis after he was subdued and while the Taser was being used.
"The force never relented to give (Davis) a reasonable chance to comply. (Davis) had as little as one second between Officer Bennett’s Taser cycles in which to regain control of his muscles and comply with commands. Similarly, Officer Baker left Plaintiff less than one second between knee strikes in which to give up his hands," Marbley stated in the ruling.
And any movement on Davis' part, at this point, was "based on their continued force on (Davis') involuntary reactions to other uses of force. Bucking, yanking, or tensing were natural reactions to being tased," Marbley's ruling stated.
Davis was struck while six officers, amounting to 1,200 pounds, were on top of him, Marbley found. "It would defy credulity to conclude these officers were not in control," Marbley's ruling stated.
The case was scheduled to head back to a jury in February, but the city of Columbus and Davis reached the settlement.
Gelsomino said it is unfortunate the settlement doesn't require the police department to make any reforms. “In a settlement, the city doesn't accept any liability. So the city... still to this day, does not believe that their officers did anything wrong here," she said.
Gelsomino said the case highlights the importance of recording police. “This case really just shows you how important videoing police activities is, you know, we see in the news now, the gratuitous, horrific violence of some police officers. And without those videos, we only have the police officers to rely on their version of events, which is designed to justify their conduct," she said.
The Columbus Division of Police did not issue any comment about the case when contacted by WOSU.
The city attorney’s office thanked the judge and jury and offered appreciation for Columbus City Council’s support of the resolution.
