This week Most & Associates attorneys William Most and Hope Phelps, working alongside attorneys from Jones Walker, won a federal jury trial involving the killing of a pet dog by a New Orleans Police Department officer.

The jury found that NOPD Officer Derrick Burmaster acted in an “objectively unreasonable manner” when he shot and killed a sixteen-week-old, eighteen inch tall puppy named Apollo during a 2021 call for service.

During the trial, the jury learned that Officer Burmaster had more than thirty uses of force and twenty rule violations in his time with NOPD, but was allowed to remain on the streets.

As a result, the jury determined that the City of New Orleans itself was liable for the constitutional violation because of the way it inadequately trained, supervised, or disciplined Officer Burmaster.

“We are so glad to have justice for Apollo,” said Attorney Most. “We hope that this trial will achieve lasting change in the way the New Orleans Police Department trains its officers to handle animals they meet in the field.”