Mercury News: San Jose bounty hunter, wrongly shot by LAPD cops, wins $1.65 million settlement
By Tracey Kaplan January 20, 2011

A San Jose bounty hunter who was gunned down without provocation by a Los Angeles police officer while trying to take a fugitive into custody has been awarded $1.165 million by a federal jury.

The officer claimed he shot bail agent E.A. Gilbert twice in self-defense at a housing project after dark on Nov. 30, 2005, after Gilbert pointed a .45-caliber gun at him and his partner. Both said they mistook Gilbert and another bounty hunter as robbers as they were subduing a bail jumper.

But the jury last week found Officer Daniel Pearce used excessive force and believed Gilbert’s claim that his gun was never aimed at the cops. Jurors based their decision on eyewitness accounts as well as physical evidence, including the trajectory of the bullets. Continue reading →