Charleston jury awards $1.3M to black couple who accused trooper of racial profiling
A Charleston jury on Wednesday reached a $1.3 million verdict for a black couple who said they were arrested because they accused a white state trooper of racial profiling during a 2012 traffic stop.
The judgment ended a three-day trial in the civil rights lawsuit by Catherine and Jerome Newkirk, who were pulled over for speeding by Trooper James Enzor in Florence County.
The Newkirks alleged that the trooper had used excessive force in wrongfully arresting them. Both spent more than a day in jail, but neither was permanently injured. Much of their ordeal, though, was captured on the lawman’s in-car camera.
“That was invaluable for the jury to see,” Joe McCulloch, an attorney for the Newkirks, said shortly after the jury’s finding was announced in downtown U.S. District Court. “It was very persuasive. The jury was asked to send a message, and they did.”
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