Court Rejects Appeal of Man Paralyzed by Police Bullet

A man initially awarded $76.4 million by a Bronx jury after he was shot and paralyzed by a police officer 20 years ago will now get nothing. He also has been ordered to pay $100 in court costs.

New York's state Court of Appeals issued a terse rejection yesterday of Darryl Barnes's attempt to recoup the money from New York City.

Two different trial juries had decided in Mr. Barnes's favor. The midlevel Appellate Division had reversed those verdicts. Now the Court of Appeals has rejected Barnes's latest appeal attempt.

The case began August 22, 1988, when Officer Franz Jerome saw Mr. Barnes running on a Bronx street with a Tec-9 semiautomatic pistol. Officer Jerome identified himself as a police officer and order Mr. Barnes to stop.

Mr. Barnes fired and Officer Jerome fired back. His bullet struck Mr. Barnes's spine.