A federal jury yesterday awarded $8.3 million to a woman who was sexually assaulted by two Philadelphia police officers, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. U.S. District Judge John P. Fullam dismissed the Police Department as a defendant in the case, saying it bore no responsibility for the 2002 attack by partners James Fallon and Timothy Carre. Neither Fallon nor Carre had a lawyer for the trial. Fallon didn’t attend. Carre served as his own lawyer and cross-examined the former stripper he and Fallon admitted they assaulted in the back of their patrol car.
The 2002 victim was among nine women who leveled sex-related complaints against the two officers. The woman’s attorneys argued that lax supervision and poor training by the department set the stage for the attack. The jury of three men and five women reached a verdict after only 90 minutes of deliberation. The jury found that the woman should be paid $1.3 million in compensatory damages and $7 million in punitive damages.