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CLEVELAND (AP) — The family of a man fatally shot in the head by a Cleveland policeman has been awarded $5.5 million by a federal jury in a civil case that found the officer was liable for using excessive force.
The decision Tuesday comes over a year after the county prosecutor cleared the officer, Roger Jones, of criminal wrongdoing in the March 2012 shooting of 20-year-old Kenneth Smith of Euclid (YOO'-klid).
The Smith family's attorney, Terry Gilbert, says the jury's decision means it recognized that Jones acted improperly.
A spokesman for the city, which represented Jones, declined to comment.
The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports that the prosecutor concluded Smith was lunging for a gun when he was shot, an account his family questioned.
Smith's mother says she's happy her son's story has now been told.
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