Jurisprudence

Olympic sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner’s emotional testimony that her husband’s “happy-go-lucky” demeanor changed for the worse after an incident with Los Angeles Police officers brought to a close Al Joyner’s week-long trial for damages.

The jury of five men and three women began deliberations after earlier hearing from Griffith Joyner that the May 8, 1992, incident caused her husband to withdraw from family life and abandon his bid to qualify for the 1992 Olympic Games.

The four officers have already been found to have violated Joyner’s civil rights when they misread his car’s license plates and ordered him out of the car at gunpoint. The jury will decide what damages, if any, the officers are liable to pay.

In his closing statement to the jury, Joyner’s attorney, John C. Burton, claimed the officers singled out Joyner because he “was a young black man in a nice car.” Burton asked the jury for up to $4.5 million in damages.

Dept. City Attorney Victor Alexandroff argued that Joyner showed no signs of trauma for the incident and was motivated by greed and was using the incident to gain free publicity.

Miscellany

Five false starts didn’t faze Quatar’s Talal Mansoor, who won his third consecutive Asian Games 100-meter run in Hiroshima, Japan, winning in a Games record 10.18 seconds.