Jury finds negligence in police shooting of mentally ill man, awards family $100,000

A Mecklenburg County jury awarded a $100,000 judgment to the family of a mentally ill Charlotte man fatally shot by a police officer in 2013, with both sides expressing expressing satisfaction with the decision.

In Tuesday's verdict, the jury unanimously found negligence in the death of Spencer Mims III, who died after a brief confrontation with two Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers five years ago.

After a weeklong trial, the jurors deliberated for less than a day.

"The family is very grateful that the jury found negligence in Spencer's death and they hope that the verdict will help the City and police see if they are adequately training people to deal with those in a mental crisis," said Luke Largess., the Charlotte attorney who filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the officer and the City of Charlotte for Mims' family.

The complaint named the City of Charlotte and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Jeremy Donaldson as defendants. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police attorney Mark Newbold said the defense team was "pleased with the verdict and recognize that this event has been difficult for both the family of Mr Mims and the officers who responded to the call for assistance."

Three-quarters of the verdict will go to the dead man's father, Spencer Mims Jr., a longtime Myers Park High School orchestra teacher who told police his son was having a mental crisis on the night of Jan. 6, 2013. When police found the younger Mims on the porch of his home with a box-cutter to this throat, the father said the officers were there to help, not to shoot him.

Minutes later, the elder Mims watched Donaldson fire three shots as Mims approached him with the box-cutter. The son died that night in a Charlotte hospital.

In a video deposition shown to the jury last week, Mims Jr., now 87 and living in Raleigh, said he remains tormented by his decision to contact police, and that his son did not need to die.

Tuesday's award was small compared to verdicts or settlements involving CMPD's shootings or investigations. In December, the city agreed to a $9.5 million settlement with a Charlotte man who spent 25 years in prison on a wrongful rape conviction due to what his attorneys described as the "willful and malicious" behavior of CMPD personnel.

In 2015, the city paid out $2.25 million to the family of Jonathan Ferrell, an unarmed Charlotte man who was shot nine times in a confrontation with three officers. Criminal charges against the officer who fired the shots were later dropped after a mistrial.

According to testimony in last week's lawsuit trial, the younger Mims suffered from significant psychological problems for most of his life, but still managed to earn a degree from UNC Chapel Hill and hold the same job for 25 years.

In closing arguments, attorneys for the younger Mims described the dead man as a loving son and uncle who was triggered into a fatal confrontation with police on the front porch of his southwest Charlotte home by the negligence of Donaldson and Michael Whitlock, another CMPD officer who came to the house.

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, said Mims had a violent streak. On the night of his death, they said, Mims compounded his lifelong psychological struggles by getting drunk, ignoring direct orders from police, then approaching one of the officers with a deadly weapon that he refused to put down.

Donaldson, who became a Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer less than a year before the shooting, fired the fatal shots.

Both Donaldson and Whitlock were cleared of any wrongdoing by CMPD and the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office.

On the night of his death, according to testimony, Mims had grown despondent over the playoff loss of his favorite NFL team. His father testified that he left the house he shared with his son in hopes the younger Mims would calm down. Two hours later, the father arranged to meet with police outside the home so he could get some clothes to spend the night elsewhere.

Police found the younger Mims sitting on the darkened porch with a box-cutter to his own throat. When Donaldson told him to drop the blade, Mims asked the officer to kill him instead, the officer said.

According to testimony, the encounter quickly spun out of control when Donaldson approached Mims on the porch while Whitlock, in the front yard, jockeyed for a clear shot with his Taser. When Whitlock fired, one prong hit Mims in the right elbow while the other slammed into the house, testimony showed. Thus, Mims was not shocked.

Donaldson, who rushed Mims in an attempt to handcuff him after Whitlock's shot, told the jury he retreated when he realized the tasing had not worked. He backed into a corner on the other side of the porch, pulling his weapon and ordered Mims to stop. He said he opened fire when Mims kept coming with the box-cutter held aloft.

Newbold and co-defense counsel Lori Keeton said police acted reasonably throughout the rapidly evolving encounter.

This story was originally published April 10, 2018 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Jury finds negligence in police shooting of mentally ill man, awards family $100,000."