NYPD Officer Larry Jackson and his wife Charlene in their lawyer Eric Sanders' office. Photo courtesy of the NY Daily News

A federal judge has signed off on an $8 million judgment in favor of a New York City police officer who was brutally beaten both inside and outside his own home while he was off duty by group of fellow officers who responded to a 911 call.

The total judgment for plaintiff Larry Jackson includes more than $2.6 million in prejudgment interest, which adds to $5.4 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

In 2016, a jury handed up an eye-popping $15 million verdict for Jackson. But in August, U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen of the Eastern District of New York found that the $12.5 million in compensatory damages contained in the verdict was excessive and reduced it to $2.75 million.  

In August 2010, according to court papers, while Jackson was hosting a party for his 21-year-old daughter at his house in Queens, an argument broke out between a party guest and an unknown man; Jackson's wife and others at the party called 911 to report that the agitator brandished a firearm.

Jackson helped to keep the peace between partygoers and other agitators and, when officers arrived, Jackson repeatedly identified himself as a fellow officer. But one of the officers punched Jackson in the face, and another picked him up by the neck with a collapsible baton.

Amid the scuffle, Jackson left his house and, while outside, a group of officers began striking him with batons, hitting him 20 or 30 times as he lay in the street, Jackson alleged.

“Guys, this was unnecessary … I'm a fellow cop, too,” Jackson told the police while they had him pinned down; one officer responded by pepper-spraying him in the face.

All the while, Jackson had his badge in his front pocket, which the officers found while searching Jackson's person. The officers removed his handcuffs, took him to a precinct house and later released him. 

“He was treated as though he did something wrong,” said solo attorney Eric Sanders, who represents Jackson. “His wrong thing was that he called the police. He should have never called them. That's sad to say, but that's the truth.”

Jackson suffered lasting physical and psychological injuries from the incident, including a fractured right hand, according to court papers. 

Jackson, who is black, claims that the officers who beat him were driven by racial animus; he filed suit against the city and the officers in 2011, bringing claims of racial discrimination, assault and battery, false arrest and unlawful detention.  

He had claimed that his injuries may force him into retirement, but he still works for the department, Sanders said.

The Queens District Attorney's Office investigated the incident but found no wrongdoing, the New York Post reported in 2016.  

Assistant Corporation Counsels Brian Francolla and Ben Kuruvilla appeared for the defendants in the case.

“We are reviewing the court's order and considering our legal options,” said Law Department spokesman Nicholas Paolucci.

The city government itself was released as a defendant from the case in 2014, though the city will indemnify the officers named in the case for their nonpunitive damages, Sanders said.

High-profile personal injury attorney Sanford Rubenstein, who was not involved in Jackson's case, said the final judgment will likely withstand an appellate challenge, should the defendants choose to pursue it. Chen already reduced the jury verdict by about $10 million and generally speaking, he said, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit tends to respect the determinations of the trial courts in these types of cases. 

“My opinion would be that it will stand,” Rubenstein said.

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