State settles in brutality case

The state of South Dakota will pay $100,000 to settle a police brutality case brought against a Highway Patrol trooper who slammed a defenseless man into the floor of a garage. Trooper Cody Jansen claimed that Troy Rokusek was resisting arrest in April 2015, but a judge ruled that a video of the incident failed to corroborate Jansen’s story. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled against that state, which was seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed. A lawyer who represented Rokusek said the settlement that followed is satisfactory. The Highway Patrol reprimanded Jansen after the incident for using a takedown method that was unauthorized. Last year, the agency named him “trooper of the year” for “exceptional service to the agency, citizens and communities.”