Family Of Korryn Gaines Wins $38M Appeal Against Police: Court

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — The family of Korryn Gaines has won a victory in its battle against the Baltimore County Police Department. In 2018, the Baltimore County woman's family was granted $38 million in a civil suit after Gaines was shot and killed in her apartment. The following year, the ruling was reversed.

On Wednesday, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals overturned the verdict.

The settlement stemmed from the wrongful death of Gaines.

The 23-year-old Randallstown woman died Aug. 1, 2016, after engaging in a standoff with police that lasted about six hours in her apartment.

She had barricaded herself inside her residence in the unit block of Sulky Court with a shotgun after officers showed up around 9 a.m. to serve arrest warrants for her and her boyfriend. Gaines was wanted for failing to appear related to a March 10 traffic stop when her Toyota Camry had no license plate. Her boyfriend had a warrant for an assault on Gaines, and police later charged him with distributing heroin from the apartment.

The confrontation ended at approximately 3 p.m. after Gaines took cover in the kitchen and raised her shotgun, court documents said. Authorities said there was an exchange of gunfire; Gaines fired two rounds from the shotgun, but did not strike police. One round hit the dining room wall, according to court filings.

Officer Royce Ruby shot and killed Gaines, and a bullet ricocheted and grazed the cheek of her son — Kodi Gaines, who was 5 at the time — court documents say.

In February 2018, a jury found Ruby did not act reasonably in the situation.

In February 2019, Judge Mickey J. Norman dismissed the complaint against the Baltimore County Police Department and against Ruby, ruling he was entitled to qualified immunity because he made objectively reasonable decisions based on information he had at the time, according to court filings obtained by WBFF.

Gaines had been resisting arrest while holding a shotgun, had taken cover in the kitchen and raised her weapon after hours of being in one spot in the apartment, had stopped taking her medication for mental illness about a year before and had not allowed officers to rescue her child from danger, the judge determined.

Norman remitted the jury's more than $37 million award, which he said was "excessive and shocks the conscience"; vacated the funeral expense payout; and ruled that if the family appealed, there should be a new trial, because there was a defective verdict.

Afterward, the family told the media that it planned to appeal, and WBAL reported Wednesday the appellate court determined the judge was wrong to ignore the verdict of a jury in the case and reinstated the initial ruling. The news station also noted the case compelled police to look at how departments handle mental health issues, about which Gaines's family alerted officers.

Read the July 1 ruling from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

Related:

• Korryn Gaines Case: Judge Overturns More Than $36M Payout
• Gaines Family To Receive More Than $36 Million In Damages: Report
• Korryn Gaines Lawsuit Grows, Allegations Added: Report
• Officer Was Justified in Shooting Korryn Gaines: Baltimore County State's Attorney
• Family of Korryn Gaines Files $4M Suit After Fatal Shooting in Baltimore County
• No Charges to Be Filed Against Officer Who Killed Korryn Gaines: Report
• Police ID Officer Who Shot Korryn Gaines
• Boyfriend of Korryn Gaines Facing Drugs and Weapons Charges
• Woman Killed by Police Said They Would Have to 'Murder' Her
• 5-Year-Old Was Injured by Police in Randallstown Standoff: Officials
• Protesters Arrested at Cop Conference in Baltimore