$85 Million Federal Jury Verdict in Lucky Phounsy In-Custody Death

On April 13, 2015, Lucky Phounsy, a 32-year-old Santee man, called 911 while experiencing a mental health crisis. He believed someone was going to harm his family. When San Diego County sheriff's deputies arrived, the encounter turned violent. Officers used a stun gun on Phounsy, struck him repeatedly, and hog-tied him. While still restrained, he suffered cardiac arrest in the back of an ambulance. He died at a hospital several days later.

Phounsy's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, K.J.P. et al. v. San Diego County, in late 2015. The case went through two full trials, two trips to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and more than six years of litigation. One of the officers involved, former deputy Richard Fischer, pleaded guilty to federal assault charges in 2019. The civil case charged the county with excessive force, failure to train its deputies, negligence, and wrongful death.

The second trial ended in March 2022 when a federal jury returned a verdict of $85 million: $5 million for the physical suffering Phounsy endured from the time of his arrest until his death, and $80 million to his family for the loss of his companionship and support. It was described at the time as the largest civil rights wrongful death verdict in United States history against a county government.

The county moved to overturn the verdict and sought a new trial. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff left the liability finding intact but ruled that the $80 million wrongful death component was 'far out of proportion to the evidence' and vacated that portion, ordering a new trial solely on those damages.

Rather than proceed to a third trial, San Diego County agreed to settle. The Board of Supervisors approved a $12 million payment, resolving the case in early 2023. The case was tried jointly by two firms. Gerald Singleton and Mark Fleming of Singleton Schreiber (formerly the Singleton Law Firm) represented the family alongside Tim Scott and Marcus Bourassa of McKenzie Scott, with John Burton also serving as plaintiff counsel.