U.S. government appeals $2 million damages award in fatal FBI shooting of Honduran man

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas appealed on Thursday a federal judge’s decision to award nearly $2 million in damages to the family of Ulises Valladares, a Honduran man fatally shot by an FBI agent during a failed hostage rescue operation in 2018.

The appeal challenges U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt’s ruling that Special Agent Gavin Lappe acted negligently when he fired his rifle through a window of a Houston home, striking and killing Valladares. It also challenges Hoyt’s finding that the federal government could be held liable for Valladares’ death under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

In March, Hoyt awarded $1.3 million to Valladares’ son, who witnessed his father’s abduction at the age of 12, and $611,000 to Valladares’ mother, citing the emotional trauma they endured and the loss of financial support. The judge also approved $475,000 in attorney fees. However, the family’s legal team — Houston civil rights attorneys Randall Kallinen and U.A. Lewis — has asked that the funds be redirected to the victims’ relatives.

In his ten-page order, issued five months after a three-day bench trial, Hoyt found no evidence to support Lappe’s claim that Valladares, who had reportedly been bound with duct tape and held for ransom, had grabbed his rifle.

https://houstonlanding.org/u-s-government-appeals-2-million-damages-award-in-fatal-fbi-shooting-of-honduran-man/