Dallas Spends $725K Defending Former Officer Who Shot Unarmed Man
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The City of Dallas is set to pay a record $725,000 to a private law firm to defend a former Dallas police officer who pleaded guilty in May to shooting an unarmed man in 2013.
On Wednesday, city council approved an additional $150,000 to be spent on legal fees in connection the civil lawsuit filed by Kelvion Walker against former Dallas police officer Amy Wilburn.
The city has already paid the private law firm of Fanning Harper Martinson Brandt & Kutchin PC more a half million dollars to work the civil case.
According to city records, this is the most the city has ever spent on outside legal fees for a single officer misconduct case.
Trial in the civil lawsuit is schedule for February – more than five years after the shooting.
In 2014, Wilburn became the first Dallas police officer to be indicted for shooting a suspect in more than four decades.
In May, she pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of reckless discharge of a firearm and received 18 months of deferred probation.
Walker, who was shot in the stomach, has had three major surgeries and racked up more than $300,000 in medical bills, according to his attorney Geoff Henley. Walker is seeking reimbursement for his medical bills along with damages in his civil suit.
