Foley Secures Jury Trial Win for Pro Bono Client in Civil Rights Case

Foley & Lardner LLP recently secured a favorable jury verdict on behalf of a pro bono client in Harris v. Giese, No. 3:22-cv-00387-wmc (W.D. Wis.), a federal civil rights case involving the use of excessive force by a jail officer.

The case stemmed from a 2022 incident in which a Juneau County Sheriff’s Office officer deployed a Taser twice against the plaintiff, a former pretrial detainee, while his arms were handcuffed behind his back, and he was seated in a restraint chair surrounded by five officers. Proceeding pro se, the plaintiff sued defendant under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the use of the Taser constituted excessive force in violation of the plaintiff’s Fourteenth Amendment rights.

In 2024, Foley accepted the case as a pro bono appointment from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. In a bifurcated three-day jury trial that concluded on April 2, 2025, the jury found that the plaintiff’s constitutional rights had been violated and awarded him $4,000 in compensatory damages and $6,000 in punitive damages.

At the conclusion of the trial, the court thanked Foley for representing the plaintiff on a pro bono basis.

The Foley trial team consisted of partner Naikang Tsao and associates Bryan Mette and Emily Jones, with support from Evan Bondoc, McKenzie Ahmet, Andrew Gresik, and Alexander Witz, and contributions from Samuel Robertson, Sophia Pfander, Katherine Plachta, Elliot Ambort, and Luisa Meyer.