BALTIMORE – A Baltimore man, who is a now quadriplegic following an incident in which police officer Bryan Kershaw was accused of using excessive force, was recently awarded $44 million by a local circuit court jury.
The police brutality lawsuit was filed last year following accusations that Kershaw threw the handcuffed man headfirst into a concrete holding cell wall and left him on the floor, bleeding from a head wound while the injured man shouted for help. As a result of the June 25, 2003 incident, 55-year-old Albert Mosley now depends on a wheelchair and lives in a private medical facility.
According to Kershaw, who has been on the police force since 2000, he immediately called for medical help after he restrained Mosley from attempting to escape. Although an internal police investigation was brought against Kershaw, no disciplinary action followed.
The case is based on what Mosley’s attorney refers to as a perpetual problem in the manner that police officers deal with people in the black community in Baltimore. Despite the accusations, police officials say that complaints against officers’ methods are steadily declining.
Mosley, who reportedly feels like justice has been reached, is just one of many people that have fallen in the favor of juries in police brutality trials in recent years.
