Jury rules against Calif. LEO in OIS that awarded him Medal of Valor
By: Sam Emery, The Orange County Register
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — A jury awarded $360,000 on Tuesday to the mother of a knife-wielding man who was shot and repeatedly stomped in the head by an Orange County sheriff’s deputy, who later was awarded the department’s medal of valor for his role in the deadly encounter.
The federal jury found that Deputy Michael Higgins used “non-lethal excessive force” against 21-year-old Connor Zion, moments after Zion stabbed another deputy in the arm.
The verdict indicates that jurors believed an initial volley of nine bullets fired by Higgins, which fatally wounded Zion, were justified, an attorney for the family said. The jurors determined a second volley of nine shots fired by Higgins, as well as the deputy stomping on a dying Zion’s head, constituted excessive force, the attorney said.
