SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — A new $50 million lawsuit has been leveled against the city of Detroit, its police department, and a former officer whose punch, led to the death of Daryl Vance.
Vance's death sparked criminal charges against that now former officer, Juwan Brown.
7 Investigator Ross Jones showed us how last month’s dismissal of those charges stunned some within the Detroit Police Department.
Now today, a civil lawsuit leveled by Fieger Law seeks to provide some justice for Vance’s family.
WXYZ’s Brian Abel spoke with Vance’s son and nephew today about their loss.
“We miss him a lot. We miss him a whole lot,” said Andres Vance, the victim’s son.
In surveillance video, you can see Daryl Vance fall to the ground after he was punched by a Detroit Police officer. That is the reason for the lawsuit. Daryl Vance died as a result of his injuries days later.
Detroit Police, the City of Detroit, and the man in uniform who threw that punch are all facing a $50 million civil lawsuit for Daryl Vance's death.
It’s the same moment that prompted criminal manslaughter charges against the officer, Juwan Brown, who has since been terminated from the Detroit Police Department.
“An indefensible display of police brutality. And there is no defense whatsoever to what happened. We saw that two police commissioners commented on this and declared this to be, excessive force,” said James Harrington, Fieger Law.
A judge didn’t see it that way, dismissing the charges for a lack of evidence.
“Does the dismissal of charges that that are being appealed, does that affect this case in in civility validity at all?” asked Abel.
“0.0% effect, our case. It has absolutely no effect whatsoever on our case. It's not binding on our case,” said Harrington.
Harrington says a different burden of proof exists for the civil case.
Regardless, the proof of pain for Daryl Vance's family, it is clear.
"The doctor was telling me that he had, was in the hospital after a cop hit. You know, I, I was just when I heard that, I was just like, oh, this ain't this thing happened,” said Nathaniel Banks, victim's nephew.
“They left him there on the ground without giving him CPR. The cop hit him, and he fell on it for 20 minutes. That's a long time to be about not breathing. So that obviously pissed me off," said Banks.
They hope this civil case leads to justice.
“What does justice look like to you?” asked Abel.
“Just he needs to be, you know, someone needs to be held accountable and take responsibility."
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office has filed an appeal of the dismissal of the criminal charges against former Officer Brown.
That appeal right now is pending.
