Award Against 3 Huntington Beach Officers Reduced
SANTA ANA — A judge Friday reduced a $105,000 jury award against three Huntington Beach Police officers accused of assaulting two brothers, but denied the officer’s request for a new trial.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Logan Moore agreed to reduce the jury’s January award by nearly $10,000 because he said the jury improperly gave the brothers punitive damages for unlawfully entering the men’s apartment.
The brothers, Miguel and Roberto Garcia, accused Officers Steven E. Overcast, Thomas A. Tremblay and Raymond Villescas of assaulting, handcuffing and pointing pistols at them during a 1988 incident at their Huntington Beach apartment. The men were not charged with a crime.
The officers denied any wrongdoing and testified that they were only trying to help a woman who had lived in the apartment safely retrieve her belongings.
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