Jury orders man to pay $500,000 for assaulting D.C. police officer who died by suicide after Capitol riot

CBS News

9 hours ago

A federal jury on Monday awarded $500,000 to the widow and estate of a police officer who died by suicide nine days after he helped defend the U.S. Capitol from a mob of rioters, including a man who scuffled with the officer during the attack.
The eight-member jury ordered that man, 69-year-old chiropractor David Walls-Kaufman, to pay $380,000 in punitive damages and $60,000 in compensatory damages to Erin Smith for assaulting her husband, Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith, inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They awarded an additional $60,000 to compensate Jeffrey Smith's estate for his pain and suffering.
The judge presiding over the civil trial dismissed Erin Smith's wrongful-death claim against Walls-Kaufman before jurors began deliberating last week. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said no reasonable juror could conclude that Walls-Kaufman's actions were capable of causing a traumatic brain injury leading to Smith's death.
Walls-Kaufman, who lived a few blocks from the Capitol, denied assaulting Smith. He says any injuries that the officer suffered on Jan. 6 occurred later in the day, when another rioter threw a pole that struck Smith around his head.
On Friday, the jury sided with Erin Smith and held Walls-Kaufman liable for assaulting her 35-year-old husband — an encounter captured on the officer's body camera.
"Erin is grateful to receive some measure of justice," said David P. Weber, one of her attorneys.
Walls-Kaufman said the outcome of the trial is "absolutely ridiculous."
"No crime happened. I never struck the officer. I never intended to strike the officer," he said. "I'm just stunned."
After the jury left the courtroom, Reyes encouraged the parties to confer and discuss a possible settlement to avoid the time and expense of an appeal and for the sake of "finality."
"You guys settle, you can move on with your lives," the judge said.
Walls-Kaufman's attorney, Hughie Hunt, described the jury's award as "shocking."
"We're talking about a three-second event," he told the judge.
"It's not shocking, Mr. Hunt. A lot of things can happen in three seconds," Reyes replied.
Jeffrey Smith was driving to work for the first time after the Capitol riot when he shot himself with his service weapon. His family said he had no history of mental health problems before the Jan. 6 riot. Erin Smith claims Walls-Kaufman struck her husband in the head with his own police baton, giving him a concussion and causing psychological and physical trauma that led to his suicide.
Body camera footage obtained by CBS News appears to show that Jeffrey Smith was the target of multiple assaults on Jan. 6, at least once inside the Capitol and then again a few hours later — outside at the west front of the Capitol. The images of the attack were pivotal to Erin Smith's efforts to change the designation of her husband's death.
"I think the physical attack on him changed him," Erin Smith told CBS News in 2022. "If he didn't go to work that day, he'd still be here."
Undated: Erin and Jeffrey Smith
Jack Reznicki, photo provided by Erin Smith
The police department medically evaluated Smith and cleared him to return to full duty before he died by suicide. In 2022, the District of Columbia Police and Firefighters' Retirement and Relief Board determined that Smith was injured in the line of duty and the injury was the "sole and direct cause of his death," according to the lawsuit.
Walls-Kaufman served a 60-day prison sentence after pleading guilty to a Capitol riot-related misdemeanor in January 2023, but he was pardoned in January. On his first day back in the White House, President Donald Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of cases for all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in the attack.
More than 100 law-enforcement officers were injured during the riot. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick collapsed and died a day after engaging with the rioters. A medical examiner later determined he suffered a stroke and died of natural causes. Howard Liebengood, a Capitol police officer who responded to the riot, also died by suicide after the attack.
Erin Smith's quest isn't over. She applied for the National Law Enforcement Memorial to add her husband's name as a line-of-duty death. Weber said they're hoping for a decision soon.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or suicidal crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
For more information about mental health care resources and support, The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email [e-mail].