Berry v. City of Detroit
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
25 F.3d 1342 (1994)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Lee Berry Jr. (Lee) was shot and killed by a police officer for the City of Detroit (defendant). Doris Berry (Berry) (plaintiff), Lee’s mother, sued the city for wrongful death. Berry asserted that the city had a policy of failing to train or discipline its officers in the appropriate use of deadly force. At trial, Berry called Frederick Postill as an expert witness to testify that this policy and these failures proximately caused Lee’s death. Postill’s qualifications discussed at trial included his sociology degree, his master’s degree in education, his appointment as a deputy sheriff, his election as a sheriff, and his work at the Justice Department developing sheriff-training criteria. Postill was fired twice as deputy sheriff, which ultimately led to his bid to be elected as sheriff. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Berry. The city appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Guy Jr., J.)
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