Facts

In 2017, Santa Barbara Sheriff's deputies fired 20 shots at Bryan Carreno, killing him in the back patio of a home he'd broken into. Carreno was suffering from a mental health crisis and was suicidal when the deputies shot him. Consequently, his family filed a wrongful death suit against the Sheriff's office in federal court.

PLAINTIFF CONTENTIONS: The estate of Carreno claimed that the deputies used excessive force to subdue Carreno, while they could have instead used less lethal means, like a K-9 unit that was present at the scene. Additionally, they argued that two of the deputies had firsthand knowledge of Carreno's suicidal tendencies because they'd been dispatched to his home twice in the past year when he threatened to kill himself, so the department should have given more consideration to his mental health issues when they made their response that night.

DEFENDANT CONTENTIONS: Santa Barbara District Attorney Dudley found no fault with the deputies' actions and ruled Carreno's killing a justifiable homicide. He also claimed that the shooting was within Sheriff's Office policy because Carreno threatened deputies with a knife.

Result

The case settled for $850,000 to the Estate of Bryan Carreno.