Robinson

MEMORANDUM *

Officer Jeffrey Nolte of the Los Angeles Police Department (“LAPD”) appeals a jury award of $1,000,000 in compensatory damages for gunshot injuries inflicted on Leonard Robinson during the latter’s arrest. Officer Nolte also appeals the district court’s denial of his renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law, in which he argued that he was protected by qualified immunity. We affirm the decision of the district court.

At trial, Officer Nolte and Robinson offered conflicting accounts of the circumstances of the shooting. Officer Nolte testified that Robinson was holding a shotgun that he was pointing at Nolte, and that he shot Robinson to protect himself. Robinson testified that the shotgun was in his lap, and that he was lying on the bed with his hands up when Officer Nolte shot him. To support his version of events, Robinson offered forensic and physical evidence involving the path of the bullet through his hands, as well as evidence that there was no blood or other tissue on the gun, as would be expected if Robinson’s hands had been on the gun when they were shot. The jury credited Robinson’s version of the events, which is amply supported by the forensic…