A man who was stunned with a Taser while handcuffed, including on his lip, has settled a federal lawsuit with a Colorado sheriff's department for $1.5 million, his lawyers said Monday.
Kenneth Espinoza was arrested after he stopped to wait for his son when he was pulled over in Trinidad, Colorado, on Nov. 29, 2022. Espinoza, who had been following his son to a car appointment, was first told he had to move his truck. But after he started to leave, he was ordered to stay. Las Animas County Sheriff's Deputy Mikhail Noel pulled his gun, then took out his Taser, according to an independent investigation.
Noel, then Lt. Henry Trujillo used their Tasers on Espinoza. The Las Animas County Sheriff's Office confirmed in September they were both fired after an investigation by the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office found they had violated a number of agency policies, including inappropriately using a Taser against Espinoza and inaccurately reporting what happened.
Las Animas County Sheriff Derek Navarette did not immediately respond to a telephone call or email seeking comment Monday on the settlement.
Trujillo declined to comment. A telephone number could not be found for Noel.
The outside investigation found Espinoza did not attempt to strike Noel with his truck and "at no time does Mr. Espinoza actively use any force against Lt. Trujillo or Dep. Noel," Las Animas County Undersheriff Reynaldo Santistevan wrote in an Aug. 10 letter to the sheriff. He recommended both deputies be fired after reviewing body camera footage and the investigative report.
Santistevan added that at "no time did either try to de-escalate this matter, but only made it worse."
Santistevan acknowledged that he did not watch the body camera footage of the incident before reviewing and signing off on the officers' accounts of what happened.
Espinoza's lawsuit, filed in May, alleges that Noel used a Taser to stun him.
Body camera video then shows Espinoza being pulled from the truck, handcuffed and squeezed into the back of a patrol car.
As the deputies struggle to get Espinoza into the car, video shows, one warns that he is going to use the Taser on him, and uses an expletive.
One device can be seen contacting Espinoza's body along with the wires that carry Taser electrodes, as crackling sounds are heard.
One of Espinoza's attorneys, Kevin Mehr, said in a statement that the settlement is a victory for the people of Colorado and "sends a clear message to thugs like this who think a badge is a license for brutality."