Court Hears East Haven's Appeal of Malik Jones Ruling

The 's appeal of the continues to move forward with judges hearing oral arguments yesterday at the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City, according to a report in the New Haven Independent.

A federal jury awarded $900,000 to the estate of Malik Jones in October 2010, 13 years after a former officer, Robert Flodquist, chased him into New Haven and then shot the 21-year-old dead at close range. Jones was unarmed at the time.

Flodquist later said Jones gave him a "go to Hell" look, and the car may have been slowly rolling backwards, so he thought his life was at risk.

After both the the state's attorney and the the U.S. Department of Justice chose not to pursue criminal charges against the East Haven Police regarding the incident, Malik Jones' mother, , filed a federal lawsuit against the town claiming the police had violated her son's civil rights. In her suit, she argued that the incident was part of a pattern of discriminatory practices by the East Haven Police Department.

Although the initial court decision on the case ruled against the town in Jones' favor — awarding the family $2.5 million in damages — the jury made a technical error. It awarded punitive damages instead of compensatory damages.

Under federal law, a municipality can only be held liable for compensatory damages. So the judge, Alvin W. Thompson, ordered a new trial — not on the guilty verdict — but on whether to award compensatory damages. That second jury found in Jones' favor, awarding the $900,000 in damages.

The Town of East Haven then of that decision, which is where the case currently stands.