A federal judge has partially sided with the family of a Black man who was fatally shot by a now-imprisoned white Kansas City, Missouri, police detective, ruling that the officer should not have entered the man’s backyard.
U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips ruled Wednesday that Eric DeValkenaere violated 26-year-old Cameron Lamb’s Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure by entering his property in 2019 without a warrant or other legal reason to be there.
However, Phillips declined to issue a summary judgment on the family’s claim that the ensuing shooting amounted to excessive force, and made no immediate decision on any damages in the wrongful death case filed against the Kansas City police board and DeValkenaere.
More likely this is the judge signalling to the city they better get a deal on the table the family can/will accept or it might happen and set a precedent.