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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A federal jury has awarded $11.3 million to a man shot in the back by a Northern California police officer and left paralyzed.
The San Jose Mercury News reports (http://bayareane.ws/1U2mwCB ) Tuesday that jurors last week faulted San Jose Officer Dondi West for shooting Hung Lam during a confrontation.
The newspaper says Lam had a knife and acted erratically during a January 2014 standoff. A retired San Mateo County sheriff who lived next door and witnessed the shooting testified that Lam didn't pose a serious threat to police.
Attorney John Burris said in a statement that the shooting wasn't justified and "sentenced Hung Lam to a lifetime in a wheelchair, as a paraplegic."
An attorney for the city of San Jose couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
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Information from: San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, http://www.mercurynews.com
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