Jermaine Dunham, who was attacked and severely injured by a police dog in 2008, has reached a settlement with the City of New York following a four-day jury trial presided over by Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The settlement, which was reached on the eve of closing arguments after four days of trial, is believed to be the largest in an individual excessive force case against the City in at least the past six years.
In 2011, Mr. Dunham sued a NYPD officer, alleging that when the officer released his dog to attack Mr. Dunham for nearly two minutes, he used excessive force and violated Mr. Dunham’s rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Mr. Dunham began pursuing his claim 12 years ago as a pro se litigant, with S&C stepping in to represent him nearly five years ago when the court granted Mr. Dunham’s request for the appointment of pro bono counsel.
The S&C team includes Stephen Elliott, Alexandra Bodo, Cooper D’Agostino, Max Kober and Megan Liu.