On September 10, 2026, the firm secured a discovery-related victory on behalf of the family of Tyshon Jones in their lawsuit against the City of Rochester (“the City”) related to the killing of Mr. Jones by the Rochester Police Department (“RPD”) in 2021. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York granted in part the family’s request for monetary and non-monetary sanctions against the City for discovery misconduct.

The lawsuit, brought in June 2022, alleges that Mr. Jones was in acute mental distress the night he was shot five times and killed by an RPD officer. Rather than accommodating his disability as required by law, the officers exacerbated it, ignoring his obvious need for help, and instead opening fire. RPD’s use of deadly force was not an anomaly, but part of an institutional policy and practice of using unconstitutionally excessive force, particularly against Black people and those with disabilities. After the City failed to produce requested documents by the established deadline, the family filed a motion for sanctions, arguing that the City violated discovery orders and obligations by neither producing relevant documents nor providing an estimate of when it would produce a privilege log. The family also sought adverse inferences in connection with in-service trainings, weapons qualifications, and officer evaluations.

The Court granted the motion in part, stating that the record established the requested inference that the City’s failure to produce personnel files and evaluations confirms that no officer evaluations were performed during any period for which an evaluation was not produced and that the City could not rely on evidence relating to trainings for which it did not produce documents. The Court also agreed that Plaintiffs are entitled to attorney’s fees for expenses caused by the City’s failure to produce the materials.

To read the opinion, please click here.