Portland settling with family of dead motorist
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 12:17 PM PDT
PORTLAND (AP) — The city of Portland has tentatively reached a $350,000 settlement with relatives of a man fatally shot by police during a traffic stop four years ago.
The proposed deal, which must by approved by the City Council, would provide payments to the son and mother of James Jahar Perez, The Oregonian newspaper reported.
Portland Officer Jason Sery shot and killed Perez on March 28, 2004. The shooting of the unarmed black motorist sparked an outcry. In response, Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk held a rare public inquest after a grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by the officer. Sery resigned from the Portland police later that year, saying he wanted to become a minister. He later took a job with Beaverton police.
Elden M. Rosenthal, the attorney who represented the Perez family, declined to comment on the proposed settlement.
The Perez lawsuit charged that the Portland Police Bureau’s use-of-force policy was unconstitutional. A federal judge in Portland rejected the challenge, and an appeals court earlier this year said the policy was not unconstitutional as written.
