COMPTON : Jury Awards $1.7 Million to Man Shot by CHP

A Compton Superior Court jury awarded $1.7 million Friday to a man shot by California Highway Patrol officers in the mistaken belief that he and his friends had been involved in a parking lot gun battle, the man’s attorneys said.

Jeffrey Howard, 33, of Compton was wounded in the neck and jaw Sept. 6, 1989, according to Ferrah Rassouli, a legal assistant in the law offices of Kayhan S. Shakib.

Rassouli said Howard and two friends had been driving out of the parking lot of The Name of The Game Club at 120th Street and Western Avenue when the gun battle began. She said the CHP officers, parked across the street, thought Howard and his friends were involved and fired at their car.

Howard flagged down a passing Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department patrol car moments after he was shot. He was taken to the County-USC Medical Center’s jail ward, where he was booked on suspicion of attempted murder.

However, no gun was ever found in his car, and the charges against him were dropped. Although partly disabled, he has largely recovered from his wounds, Rassouli said. His friends were not wounded.