Cooper v. Clancy
No. 21-cv-6296 (W.D.N.Y.)
In November 2023, Joshua Moskovitz and David Rankin (Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP) won a $9.25 million verdict in the NDNY on behalf of the family of Terry Cooper, Jr., who was killed by New York state corrections officers in 2016. The verdict is the highest-ever jury award in a civil rights case in the Northern District of New York.
The officers claimed to have used minimal force on Mr. Cooper, and denied striking him with any objects, a claim supported by a faulty autopsy report. But photographs from the autopsy revealed evidence of significant injuries, including baton wounds on Mr. Cooper’s body and head.
The State of New York waived an appeal and agreed to pay $8,900,000 to Mr. Cooper’s estate.
NYS Senator Julia Salazar (Senate District 18) later introduced Senate Bill S9315, known as the Terry Cooper Autopsy Accountability Act. The law would require autopsy photos, tissue slides, and other items to be provided to the NYS Commission on Correction whenever there is a death in a New York state jail.
