The Attorney General's Office agreed to make one of the largest payments in State Police history to settle an illegal use of force claim against a trooper.
State Police insurance will pay $250,000, the maximum under the policy, and the Attorney General's Office will pay an additional undisclosed sum to the victim's estate.
A coroner's jury and a federal court ruled Trooper Francis J. Murphy III was justified in the 1994 fatal shooting of a volunteer firefighter threatening suicide and armed with a shotgun.
But the victim's attorney learned after the trials State Police withheld a personnel report. The file cited the trooper's troubled history and his colleagues' belief he was unfit for duty.
The case was scheduled for a new trial in April.
Copyright Washington Crime News Service Mar 18, 2005
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