JURY AWARDS $1.7M TO FAMILY OF CALIF. MUSLIM KILLED BY POLICE

The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) on January 27 announced that a federal jury awarded $1.7 million to the family of a 21-year-old autistic Muslim man for his fatal shooting by a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer in 2008. CAIR-LA Staff Attorney Ameena M. Qazi, with attorney Olu Orange, Mann and Cook Law Offices and the Disability Rights Legal Center, filed a lawsuit in 2009 on behalf of the family of the victim, Mohammad Usman Chaudhry. The suit was filed against former LAPD officer Joseph Cruz and the LAPD for claims including wrongful death and excessive use of force, and against Los Angeles County for the failure to notify the Chaudhry family of their son’s death for three weeks. Tenets of the Islamic faith require burying a body within three days of death. This week, the jury found that the officer used excessive force, acted with malice, and that the City of Los Angeles was liable as the officer’s employer. Damages were awarded on January 26.