$9 Million Settlement Reached in Louisana Trooper Shooting Case: Largest Ever Paid in Police Violence Case in Louisiana History

In a landmark settlement, authorities in Louisiana have agreed to pay $9 million to Clifton “Scotty” Dilley, a man left partially paralyzed after a state trooper shot him during a 2018 traffic stop in Baton Rouge. The incident, which was later found to be unjustified and resulted in the trooper’s dismissal, forms part of one of the largest settlements of its kind in the state’s history.

The settlement, confirmed by an anonymous source with direct knowledge, resolves a federal lawsuit filed by Dilley, who was confined to a wheelchair at the age of 19 due to his injuries. The specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed publicly.

The shooting was highlighted in a US Department of Justice report this year, which revealed instances of excessive force used by Louisiana State Police during arrests and vehicle pursuits.

Trooper Kasha Domingue was terminated following an investigation that found she shot Dilley without justification, failed to activate her body-worn camera, and provided inconsistent accounts that were contradicted by surveillance video. The agency’s report further stated that Domingue’s misreporting the incident as a Taser discharge delayed appropriate responses to the shooting.

Over the years, Domingue’s explanation for the shooting has evolved, with her claiming at different times that she mistook her firearm for a Taser, pulled the trigger accidentally, or that the shooting was justified due to fear for her life.

Dilley was a passenger in the vehicle stopped by police. He asserted that the trooper never ordered him to stop running before shooting. Moments after he was hit, he told Domingue he had lost feeling below his waist. “I asked her what was wrong with my legs,” Dilley said in a deposition. “She said it’s a Taser aftereffect. It will wear off.” However, a bullet had actually struck Dilley’s spine.

Domingue’s initial account quickly unraveled. She told investigators that Dilley ran around the stopped vehicle and reached inside it before charging toward her. This claim was disproven by surveillance video from a nearby store showing an unarmed man running away from the trooper.

“If that camera wasn’t there, I don’t know how this would’ve turned out,” Dilley said in the deposition.

“What happened to me that night will forever change my life,” said Dilley, represented by former US attorney and Louisiana congressman Don Cazayoux. Dilley expressed hope that the case “will effect change within the state police that will keep this from ever happening again.”

Neither an attorney for Domingue nor the state Attorney General’s Office commented on the matter.

The $9 million settlement ranks among the largest ever paid in Louisiana in cases involving police violence. In 2021, Baton Rouge agreed to pay $4.5 million to the children of Alton Sterling, a Black man whose fatal shooting by police was captured on video and sparked widespread outrage and protests.

More than two years after the shooting, Domingue was charged with aggravated second-degree battery and illegal use of a weapon. She pleaded guilty in 2022 to obstruction of justice, avoiding jail but agreeing never again to serve in law enforcement. Her conviction has since been expunged.

The civil proceedings brought questions regarding whether Domingue should have become a state trooper, highlighting potential liability the state could have faced had the lawsuit gone to trial. State police records indicate a series of red flags dating back to her time in the training academy, including failed tests and issues on the firing range.

Despite these problems, the agency allowed Domingue to graduate the academy, requiring additional training before receiving her commission. However, instructors expressed concerns about her suitability. One internal report stated she “struggled from the onset of the class, both physically and mentally.”

The Justice Department’s report alluded to Domingue in its findings on the state police’s widespread use of excessive force. It noted that she remained a trooper for more than two years after the shooting due to a policy of postponing internal investigations while criminal inquiries are underway. “This can add significant delays to the accountability process,” the report said.

Governor Jeff Landry, a Republican, criticized the report as an attempt to “diminish the service and exceptionality” of the state police. The federal probe began in 2022 amid fallout from the in-custody death of Ronald Greene, who was beaten, tased, and dragged on a rural road in northern Louisiana.

The DOJ rescinded its findings in May, stating it was ending the “failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments.”