Jury awards $6 million to widow of Laguna Woods man killed by OC sheriff deputies
Attorneys representing the family of a 65-year-old man shot and killed in his Laguna Woods home by sheriff deputies in 2018, announced a $6 million jury verdict against the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Jurors unanimously decided in the civil wrongful death suit that the deputies who responded mishandled the situation and escalated matters by shooting and killing Paul Mono.
Mono's widow, Susan Peck, said that the deputies didn't believe or care that her partner of 30 years was blind and having a crisis.
"I truly hope this verdict serves as a wakeup call and saves others from the grief that I have endured for the past seven years," Peck said.
Deputies responded around 1 p.m. to Mono's home in a Laguna Woods retirement community for a disturbance call. Mono, a retired creative director for the Los Angeles Times, was in a dispute with his contractor, who was not in the home at the time.
At Wednesday's news conference, attorneys said Mono was legally blind and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was experiencing a mental health crisis that day.
They also said he was in his own home and there was no threat to the community in this case.
Attorneys said responding deputies shot 14 bullets through the windows, killing Mono in front of Peck. They said some of those bullets also went through the walls and into the neighboring unit "and by sheer luck, neither Ms. Peck nor the neighbor were killed that day," attorney David Clay Washington said.
Attorney Morgan Ricketts said law enforcement is trained in de-escalation techniques and in this case, deputies rushed -- "and that's why this man lost his life."
The deputies weren't prosecuted, some are still working, while others have retired, attorneys said.
The Orange County District Attorney's office previously found deputies were justified in shooting as they saw Mono reach for a handgun inside the home.
