Norfolk man Marius Mitchell Shot by Police Settles Lawsuit for $425,000

mar

The man who sued a Norfolk police officer for nearly shooting him to death agreed Thursday to scrap his lawsuit for nearly half a million dollars.

Marius Mitchell settled with ex-Officer Neal Robertson for $425,000, according to City Attorney Bernard Pishko.

His lawsuit sought $10 million.

Mitchell is “very disappointed” in the settlement but is tired after 4½ years of fighting for his life, freedom and just compensation, his spokesman, Michael Muhammad, said in an email.

“Each continued encounter with his shooter adds great stress,” Muhammad said.

Neither the city nor the Police Department was a defendant in Mitchell’s suit, but Pishko has said Norfolk will cover any judgment against Robertson because he was acting appropriately while on duty.

Six weeks ago, Mitchell took Robertson to trial, accusing him of using excessive force and false arrest. But jurors deadlocked, and U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson declared a mistrial.

Mitchell planned to take Robertson to court again if he couldn’t reach a “reasonable settlement” with the city, Muhammad said at the time.

Mitchell has said they offered him $50,000 leading up to April’s four-day trial and he’d considered settling for around $3 million. At the time, he called the city’s offer a slap in the face.

“It’s like giving a kid candy to get them to shut up,” Mitchell said, adding that he’s racked up $180,000 in medical bills.

Robertson’s lawyer, Alan Rashkind, declined to comment, and Mitchell’s attorneys didn’t return calls.

Mitchell was charged with dragging a police officer, trying to steal his car and trying to escape after a confrontation on Jan. 29, 2013. Jurors deadlocked in his first criminal trial, and a second jury acquitted him on all charges in 2015.

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