By Robert Salonga
Santa Clara — A federal jury (click here) has ordered the city of Santa Clara to pay $500,000 to a man who was shot and wounded by police during a traffic stop four years ago, after finding that an officer used excessive force when he opened fire, according to court records and attorneys.
The Dec. 2 civil verdict determined that Santa Clara Police Officer Jordan Fachko was liable for excessive and unreasonable force and negligence during the Oct. 21, 2017 confrontation with a then-24-year-old Omar Gomez. In doing so, jurors apparently rejected the claim by Fachko that Gomez was trying to run him over.
San Jose-based attorney Jaime Leaños, who represented Gomez in the federal civil rights lawsuit, contends that ballistics evidence showing that Fachko fired through the driver’s side window of Gomez’s car helped convince jurors that the officer was out of the car’s path....
