Arrested Teenager who suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Ends up with $1,250,000 Due to Excessive Force

13-year-old Luis Figueroa was in the backseat of his brother’s jeep when they were pulled over by police officers. The police were responding to a call of a department store which reported a robbery in progress. Because there were several Hispanic males (two of whom are wearing camouflage jackets that matched the description of the suspects), the police suspected that it was them.
There are divergent stories about what occurred afterwards. But it is clear that one of the officers and Luis got into a fight, with Luis punching the officer. The case was processed in the precinct house and Luis was released pending trial. The assault charge was dismissed a year afterwards in the Family Court.
But on the night of his arrest, Luis did not seek medical attention, attending his own birthday party instead. He had to go to the Lincoln Hospital the next day because of pain in his right pand. He was given pain pills and a splint and told he suffered from fracture in his 5^th metacarpal bone. A month of physical therapy was required before the fracture healed.
After a month, Luis’s mother took Luis back to the hospital because he was complaining of flashbacks, nightmares, and inability to sleep. In the next five years, the boy was treated at the pediatric psychiatric clinic of the hospital. He was mainly given anti-anxiety mediation as he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive disorder – which were both traced back to the arrest incident.
His parents filed charges against the city and the police department. It went on trial on Aug. 13, 2008 with civil rights lawyer Michael Scolnick as the trial counsel. There were testimonies from the passengers of the vehicle and it was found that two officers used excessive force. The jury also found that the police did not have probable cause to arrest Luis. As a result, they awarded $2.5 million to Luis for pain and suffering. The defendants appealed saying that the award was too excessive. It was lowered to $1,250,000.
One of the main reasons why the defense lost this case was that while they attacked expert testimony as speculative since one was conducted for only 90 minutes (in a single session 13 years ago), they did not provide their own psychiatrists. This left the testimonies of the plaintiff’s witnesses unchallenged.