John Leonard Burris was born on May 8,1945 and is an American civil rights attorney, based in Oakland, California, known for his work in police brutality cases representing plaintiffs.
17 Facts About John Burris
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John Burris' practice grew notably when he represented Rodney King in his civil rights lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department and won $3.8 million against the LAPD.
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Since then, Burris has represented plaintiffs in a number of high-profile lawsuits against police departments across the state of California including the "Oakland Riders" case which settled for $10.9 million where a gang of Oakland officers were found to be planting evidence on citizens, which caused the federal government to investigate and oversee the Oakland Police Department to this day.
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Mr John Burris won a $11.3 million judgment at trial against the San Jose Police Department, after an officer shot Hung Lam in the back causing him to become paralyzed.
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John Burris represented Oscar Grant's mother in her lawsuit against BART Police which settled for $1.3 million, where Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Johannes Mehserle shot the 22-year-old in the back while he was handcuffed on the Fruitvale BART train platform in Oakland, California on New Year's Day in 2009.
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Mr John Burris represents Mario Woods' mother in her case against the San Francisco Police Department where a group of officers were captured on video shooting her son, Mario Woods, on December 2,2015, that caused large protests throughout the Bay Area and ultimately resulted in the resignation of the SFPD Chief of Police Greg Suhr.
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John Burris attended Solano Community College in the mid-1960s and later earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Golden Gate University.
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John Burris graduated from UC Berkeley Graduate School of Business in 1970 and UC Berkeley School of Law in 1973 with a Juris Doctor degree.
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John Burris's work in police brutality cases began in 1979 when he was an investigator in the district attorney's office working on the case of the killing of 14-year-old Melvin Black.
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John Burris "has earned millions of dollars" in filing hundreds of police brutality and high-profile lawsuits, including a $3.8 million verdict for Rodney King and a $42,000 settlement in a suit brought on behalf of Tupac Shakur.
11.
John Burris's practice grew notably when he represented Rodney King in his civil rights lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department and won $3.8 million against the LAPD.
12.
John Burris has represented plaintiffs in a number of high-profile lawsuits against police departments across the state of California including the "Oakland Riders" case which settled for $10.9 million where a gang of Oakland officers were found to be planting evidence on citizens, which caused the federal government to investigate and oversee the Oakland Police Department to this day.
13.
John Burris represented Oscar Grant's mother in her lawsuit against BART Police which settled for $1.3 million, where Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Mehserle infamously shot 22-year-old in the back while he was handcuffed on the Fruitvale BART train platform in Oakland, California on New Year's Day in 2009.
14.
John Burris represented Mario Woods' mother in her case against the San Francisco Police Department where a group of officers were captured on video shooting her son, Mario Woods, on December 2,2015, that caused large protests throughout the Bay Area and ultimately resulted in the resignation of the SFPD Chief of Police Greg Suhr.
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John Burris represented the family of Agustin Gonsalez, who was shot to death by two Hayward police officers in 2018.
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John Burris's family reported that he was undergoing a mental health crisis.
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John Burris is married to Cheryl Amana-John Burris, a law professor at North Carolina Central University.