A Brooklyn federal court jury ruled Wednesday that New York City and two police officers were not liable for the 2004 death of an informant whose family claimed was killed because the police accidentally exposed him.
The eight-person jury initially awarded $1 million in damages to the family of informant Anthony Velez, 20, without finding anyone liable on a written verdict form, but reduced the amount to zero after U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano ordered jurors to resolve the inconsistency.
The jurors declined to discuss the verdict as they left court. Velez's mother, Towanda, and the two cops -- Sgt. Rudolph Hall and retired Sgt. Michael Ruggiero -- also declined to comment. Her attorney said the family was "disappointed."
"We respect the jury's verdict, but we think they reached the wrong decision," said the lawyer, Michael O'Neill.
Velez, a registered confidential informant, had tipped the police to an apartment with drugs and guns in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. When police arrived, they arrested two other occupants of the apartment but let Velez go -- which his mother claimed exposed him as a snitch.
Two hours later, Velez was gunned down. As he was dying, he identified his killer as the son of a woman arrested at the apartment and the owner of the seized gun.
Jurors found that the officers did not behave "recklessly," and that they lacked knowledge that their "action or inaction" could cause him to be harmed.
The city claimed Velez might have been the victim of random violence, rather than being targeted because he was exposed as an informant.
But the jury never reached that issue. City lawyers argued that Velez may have exposed himself by not being secretive about being an informant.
"The city feels deeply for the Velez family," said city lawyer Morgan Kunz. "However we appreciate the jury's recognition that the police department did not act inappropriately."
O'Neill said he believed Vitaliano made some erroneous legal rulings, which would be the subject of an appeal.
Copyright 2011 - Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
