The city of Fresno must pay $824,495 to the attorneys who prevailed in a federal civil rights lawsuit that accused police of using excessive force in the 2009 shooting death of Stephen Willis.
The federal judge's ruling amounts to nearly three times what the city was ordered to pay in damages to Willis' family, and brings the city's costs in recent federal-court losses to about $5 million.
In the Willis case, a jury in December awarded $1.51 million in damages, saying former Fresno police officer Greg Catton not only acted with excessive force, but his negligence caused Willis' wrongful death.
But the jury also ruled that Willis contributed to his own death, so his family was awarded only $302,000 in damages.