LOS ANGELES — A federal jury has awarded $1.5 million to a woman who suffered a brain injury two years ago when a Los Angeles police officer shot her with a hard-foam projectile as she left the Lakers' downtown NBA title celebration.
The ruling came after a three-day civil trial that ended Thursday, during which jurors heard evidence of what Kimberly Marroquin's attorney described as a heavy-handed police response to people thronging the streets following the Lakers' championship-clinching win in the 2020 NBA Finals. Marroquin argued that she was leaving the celebration and posed no threat to police when she was struck in the head with the projectile. She suffered a traumatic brain injury, she said, from which she still deals with continual headaches and difficulty sleeping.
Marroquin was one of several people who were injured in the area around what was then known as Staples Center. As storefronts were being damaged and some officers targeted with thrown rocks and bottles, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared an unlawful gathering and began firing 40-millimeter "less-lethal" rounds at people. One man's eye socket was shattered after being struck, and another lost eight teeth when a projectile hit him in the mouth.
