A lawsuit against former Shasta County District Attorney Jerry Benito and three others is going to cost Shasta County $855,600 following an out-of-court settlement reached on Friday.
The settlement did away with the need for a federal jury that had been scheduled to resume its work on Monday to decide how much in punitive damages, if any, the four defendants would have to pay.
That same jury ruled late last month that Benito and his three co-defendants maliciously defamed Joyce Gardner, the former director of the Shasta County Victim Witness program, awarding her at least $775,000 damages.