Jury Denies Damages in Montana Wrongful Death Lawsuit

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A federal jury has denied a damage award to the family of a Livingston, Mont., man who was shot and killed by police in January 2016.

The estate of Sean Patrick O’Brien filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Livingston and the officers involved in 2018. The family argued police were negligent, used excessive force and violated department policies.

The family said O’Brien was trying to run away when he was shot. But the city argued O’Brien charged at officers with a knife in his hand.

The jury placed 49% of the blame on the city and 51% on O’Brien in a trial that concluded on Aug. 18. If the jury had assigned 50% of the blame to Livingston, O’Brien’s family would have been allowed to recover some damages, The Billings Gazette reported.

The shooting happened when officers responded to a Livingston store following reports of a man threatening employees.

One officers used his stun gun on O’Brien but it had no effect. Authorities say two officers opened fire on O’Brien after he ignored repeated commands to stop moving, get on the ground and drop his weapon before running at officers with a knife.

A coroner’s jury in 2016 determined the shooting was justified.

Nate Wagner, who represented O’Brien’s estate, said that while the jury found there was blame on both sides, officers could have acted to save O’Brien’s life.

“At the same time, we believe the jury’s determination that the officers were 49% responsible for Sean’s death sends a powerful message to law enforcement agencies in Montana,” Wagner said. “The City of Livingston avoided financial liability by the slimmest possible margin, and we hope this outcome will serve as a deterrent to the unnecessary use of deadly force by law enforcement officers against the citizens of Montana.”

The wrongful death lawsuit first went to trial in June. Jurors hearing the case in June were unable to reach a decision on the allocation of blame, resulting in a mistrial.

A juror from that trial called Livingston officials and said there was one juror who insisted on assigning blame to the city, which led to the mistrial, City Attorney Courtney Lawellin said.

Lawellin said she felt the decision in the second trial was actually a compromise to avoid another mistrial. However, there is no way to know that because Magistrate Judge Timothy Cavan ordered the jurors not to contact the parties in the case.

“We may never know what happened,” in deliberations, Lawellin said. “And I think that is certainly something that the public should know.”