In rare decision, federal judge clears the way for City of Austin to face trial in civil lawsuit over 2021 fatal police shooting. The judge cites a "culture of impunity" at the Austin Police Department stemming from "deficient" misconduct investigations. www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-04...

Judge Robert Pitman's decision is a rare one in lawsuits brought over police shootings. Typically, only claims brought against individual officers succeed. But Pitman wrote that the city's Internal Affairs process could have resulted in this shooting and a jury should hear more.

The plaintiffs produced key pieces of evidence that allowed them to overcome the steep legal hill that protects cities in these lawsuits. - 19 high profile police violence cases - independent investigations into APD's IA division - Testimony from three former APD chiefs

Taking all of that evidence together, Pitman concluded that the city "had a practice of permitting excessive force by under-investigating and under-disciplining the majority of officers who engaged in excessive force" that a jury could conclude led to the fatal shooting.