County OKs $2.2 million settlement for man shot by deputy in Compton

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City News Service

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors today approved a $2.2 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by a man shot by a sheriff's deputy in Compton and left a paraplegic.

Deputies saw Daniel Martinez and another man "acting suspiciously" in front of a restaurant about 1:22 a.m. on May 24, 2009, according to documentation provided to the board by county counsel. The deputies said they thought Martinez was a lookout and the two men were about to commit a robbery.

The deputies got out of their black-and-white in the 600 block of West Rosecrans Avenue and ordered Martinez to show his hands, but he ran.

As he fled, he pulled a "dark-colored object" from his rear pants pocket, which at least one of the deputies thought was a gun. A deputy fired two rounds at Martinez, severely wounding him and ultimately leaving his lower body paralyzed.

Martinez and his attorneys from The Cochran Firm Los Angeles, founded by the late Johnnie Cochran, brought suit alleging that the use of deadly force was not warranted.

The county will pay Martinez $2 million and pick up medical bills totaling $241,380.

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