Stephon Clark Case: $4.1M Settlement, AB 392, and Policy Changes

The Stephon Clark case is the 2018 fatal Sacramento police shooting of a 22-year-old Black man who was holding a cellphone officers mistook for a gun, a killing that produced no criminal charges but led to a $4.1 million civil settlement for his family and drove California to rewrite its police use-of-force standard. Clark was shot in his grandparents’ backyard on March 18, 2018, by two officers who fired 20 rounds between them. Three separate investigations later cleared the officers of criminal wrongdoing, but the case reshaped state law and Sacramento police policy.

What Happened the Night of the Shooting

On the evening of March 18, 2018, Sacramento police responded to a 911 call about someone breaking car windows in a south Sacramento neighborhood. Officers Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet chased a suspect on foot into the backyard of a home on 29th Street where Clark had been staying with his grandparents, Sequita Thompson and her husband.¹

A Sacramento County Sheriff’s helicopter tracked Clark jumping a fence, looking into windows, and breaking a rear window of a neighboring home before he moved into his grandparents’ yard. When the officers came around the side of the house, they shouted for him to show his hands. Within roughly five seconds, they yelled “gun” and opened fire. Each officer discharged 10 rounds. Clark was holding only a cellphone. No gun was found on or near him.¹

Clark was pronounced dead at the scene. Body camera footage captured officers discussing their belief that he was armed and asking for a ballistic shield before approaching his body. At one point an officer said “Hey, mute,” and the audio cut out for roughly two minutes while officers discussed whether to perform CPR.²

The Autopsy Dispute

The Sacramento County Coroner ruled Clark’s death a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds, finding seven distinct wounds with entry points in the front left thigh, the right side of the neck, the right arm, the right side of the chest, and three in the back.¹

The family commissioned an independent autopsy by Dr. Bennet Omalu, who concluded Clark had been struck eight times and that seven bullets entered from behind, contradicting the police account that Clark was advancing on officers. Sacramento police called those findings “erroneous.” The county autopsy disputed the claim that Clark was shot primarily from behind.³

At the state’s request, the San Diego County Medical Examiner reviewed the county coroner’s work and called it “comprehensive, professional, well documented, and correct in its conclusions.” The Attorney General’s report also noted that helicopter footage showed Clark falling forward and twisting to the right after being hit, which could account for some rear entry wounds without him being turned away from officers.¹

Why No Officer Was Charged

Three separate criminal investigations reached the same conclusion: no charges.

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced on March 2, 2019, that neither Mercadal nor Robinet would face charges. She called the shooting “lawful,” saying officers “are often forced to make split-second decisions” under “tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving circumstances.” At the same press conference, Schubert disclosed text messages and search history suggesting Clark had been struggling with suicidal thoughts. Clark’s mother, Se’Quette Clark, condemned the disclosure as a “smear campaign” and called for Schubert to be removed from office.⁴⁵

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s parallel investigation found a “lack of evidence to support criminal charges.” His office concluded that body camera and helicopter footage did not contradict the officers’ claim that they perceived Clark to be in a shooting stance, and that under the use-of-force standard in place at the time, the shooting was not criminally culpable.¹

The federal review closed on September 26, 2019. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, the FBI, and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division found “insufficient evidence to support federal criminal civil rights charges.”⁶

The Sacramento Police Department’s internal affairs investigation found no policy or training violations, and Chief Daniel Hahn returned both officers to active duty.⁷

The $4.1 Million Civil Settlement

In January 2019, the Clark family filed a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit seeking more than $20 million from the City of Sacramento and the officers. The complaint alleged racial profiling, excessive force, failure to identify themselves or issue proper warnings, and failure to provide immediate medical attention. The family was represented by attorneys Benjamin Crump, Brian Panish, and Dale Galipo.⁸⁹

The case settled in two stages. In October 2019, a federal judge approved a $2.4 million settlement for Clark’s two young sons, with $1.2 million placed in trust for each child.¹⁰¹¹¹²

The Law It Changed: AB 392

The Clark case became the central driver of California’s overhaul of police use-of-force law. After both the DA and the AG declined to charge the officers in early 2019, Assemblymember Shirley Weber introduced Assembly Bill 392, replacing the old “reasonable” fear standard with one that permits deadly force only when “necessary in defense of human life.” Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill on August 19, 2019.¹³

At the signing, Clark’s brother Stevante Clark called it “the Stephon Clark law,” saying, “I don’t think this law would be here and as powerful as it is now if it wasn’t for my brother.” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg described the legislation as a “watershed achievement.”¹³

The case also helped build momentum for SB 1421, a police transparency law that opened officer disciplinary records in cases involving serious or deadly use of force. Supporters argued that the inability to examine involved officers’ backgrounds represented an “obvious information gap” that eroded public trust.¹⁴

Sacramento Police Policy Changes

Sacramento police adopted a new foot-pursuit policy on July 26, 2018. It requires officers to weigh whether the risk of a chase outweighs the need for apprehension, to activate body cameras and broadcast their location, and to reassess continuously during a pursuit. No officer will be disciplined for declining to start a foot chase or for calling one off.¹⁵

Chief Hahn questioned the department’s practice of allowing officers to mute their body cameras, saying it “bred more mistrust,” and moved the department toward releasing shooting footage more quickly. He later told the Los Angeles Times that drone technology had changed how the department would handle a similar call: “If that same exact situation happened today, there’s a good chance those officers wouldn’t ever chase that person, and use a drone instead.”¹⁶

A separate California Department of Justice review of the department identified outdated use-of-force policies and insufficient accountability measures, and recommended prohibiting carotid restraints, requiring officers to exhaust alternatives before using deadly force, and establishing a use-of-force review board.¹⁷

The Family Since

Stevante Clark has stayed a visible advocate in Sacramento, founding the I Am Sac Foundation and helping develop “Stephon’s House,” a community resource center. Each March he has organized legacy events that include marches at the State Capitol, candlelight vigils, and planning panels for families affected by police violence. He describes his work as “a movement, not a moment.”¹⁸

Their grandmother, Sequita Thompson, became a public face of the family’s grief. At a March 26, 2018, news conference at Sacramento City Hall, she asked through tears: “Why didn’t you shoot him in the arm? Shoot him in the legs? Send in dogs? Send in a Taser? They didn’t have to kill him like that. They didn’t have to shoot him that many times.”¹⁹

1
California Attorney General. Report of the Attorney General Regarding the Criminal Investigation Into the Death of Stephon Clark
2
BBC News. Stephon Clark: Sacramento Police Release Shooting Footage
3
CapRadio. Family of Stephon Clark Releases Results of Independent Autopsy
4
ABC7 News. Two Sacramento Police Officers Who Shot Stephon Clark Won’t Face Charges
5
WVTF. Stephon Clark’s Mother Reacts to Sacramento DA’s No Criminal Charges Decision
6
U.S. Department of Justice. Federal Officials Close Civil Rights Investigation Into Fatal Shooting of Stephon Clark
7
KQED. Feds Won’t Pursue Charges in Fatal Police Shooting of Stephon Clark
8
CNN. Stephon Clark Wrongful Death Lawsuit
9
Sacramento Bee. Clark Family Files Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit
10
Courthouse News Service. Judge OKs $2.4 Million Settlement for Stephon Clark’s Children
11
New York Times. Stephon Clark Shooting Settlement Sacramento
12
CapRadio. Stephon Clark Family Settles Remaining Lawsuit With City of Sacramento
13
CapRadio. California Raises Standard for When Police Can Use Deadly Force
14
GovTech. Stephon Clark Killing Prompts Bid to Open Police Disciplinary Records
15
CapRadio. Sacramento Police Reconsider Foot Chases After Stephon Clark’s Death
16
Los Angeles Times. Former Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn Q&A
17
California Attorney General. California DOJ Review of Sacramento Police Department
18
KCRA. Stevante Clark Activism Four Years After Brother Stephon Clark Shooting Death
19
Los Angeles Times. Stephon Clark’s Grandmother Calls for Justice at Sacramento City Hall