City, ex-FWPD officer appeal jury decision in federal excessive force lawsuit

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) —The City of Fort Wayne will not stand down.

The city and Boyce Ballinger, the police officer at the center of an excessive use of force case during the downtown 2020 protests, are appealing a jury’s July verdict that awarded a man $80,000.

The defendants are demanding a new trial “or to amend or alter the judgment in favor of the plaintiff as being excessive and not supported by the facts to avoid a miscarriage of justice,” according to a motion filed Thursday in U.S. District Court Northern District of Indiana Friday.

In federal court, jurors found on July 25 that Ballinger used excessive force on Lucas Williams, 19 then, and wrongly and falsely arrested him during the second day of the protests in May 2020. Federal judge Holly Brady presided over the trial.

Protests erupted all over the U.S. in reaction to the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man, who was killed in Minneapolis by white police officer Derek Chauvin. Fort Wayne was no exception.

Williams, a Steuben County resident and criminal justice college student, arrived in Fort Wayne with three friends to witness the protests that had reportedly gone out of control the night before when 50 downtown windows were broken, according to court records and testimony.

However, it was never proven he was a protester. Ballinger was accused of tackling Williams after he jumped out of a squad car, believing that Williams was a “runner” whose description was aired by FWPD Vice & Narcotics officer, Mark Gerardot.

There was a discrepancy on the exact location of the takedown that has given Williams nightmares, produced flashbacks and hypervigilance, according to court records and testimony.

Williams said his face was smashed into the concrete by Ballinger. Ballinger – forced to resign from the FWPD in March 2021 following a domestic battery conviction – said he ordered Williams to stop and Williams refused by “turning.”

Attorney Ted Storer of Beers Mallers LLP representing the city and Ballinger contends in the filing that during the trial there was a lack of any evidence of economic losses, including medical bills or lost wages; lack of any medical evidence or medical testimony concerning physical injuries, lack of any monetary testimony of damages to justify the jury award and that the damages for excessive force result from “a single tackle” but “were awarded in the same amount as the damages for his wrongful arrest.”

According to the motion, the award for excessive force was $40,000; and two separate claims for wrongful arrest were awarded $20,000 each.

Storer also writes that Dennis Geisleman, Williams’ attorney, made improper statements during his closing arguments that “small cases are worth certain amounts and big cases are worth certain amounts” and that the jury “should make an award to prevent this from happening again.”

Storer said on court day that the city and Ballinger would appeal the jury’s decision on the grounds of qualified immunity, a federal protection of police officers in civil suits.

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