Opinion ID: 536587
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 Brenda Cornwell brought a successful civil rights action against five police officers employed by the city of Riverside, California. In addition to general damages, the jury awarded punitive damages which, by remittitur, were reduced to a total of $45,000. 3 Under a California statute enacted in 1985 a public entity other than the state is authorized to pay punitive damages awarded against its employees if the public entity finds that the employees were acting within the course of their employment, in good faith and in the apparent best interests of the public entity, and the payment would be in the best interests of the public entity. Cal.Gov.Code Sec. 825(b) (West Supp.1986-1990). When the City of Riverside offered to pay the punitive damages assessed against the officers, Cornwell refused to accept them. The court then stayed execution of the judgment against the individual officers, the stay to be in effect until after a decision by this court on the appeal from the order.