Federal judge upholds $6.6 million verdict against LAPD officers in veteran's detention case

In August 2019, veteran Slade Douglas called a VA crisis line, which prompted a Los Angeles Police Department welfare check at his home. Officers Jeffrey Yabana and Jeremy Wheeler entered despite Douglas’s assurances that he posed no danger, later detaining him, cuffing him to a stretcher, and transporting him to a hospital where he was sedated and subjected to non-consensual medical sampling. A jury awarded Douglas $6.6 million for civil-rights violations, a verdict the city and the officers sought to overturn.

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong rejected the city’s arguments, confirming the damages award and noting the jury’s instruction on damages was proper. While the negligent-supervision claim failed, the judge emphasized the city’s prior knowledge of Officer Wheeler’s substance-abuse and mental-health problems. Attorneys for Douglas argued the city prioritized officer confidentiality over public safety, a point the judge allowed to remain in the record. The city declined to comment on the ruling.