cops like when the evidence isnt just right. as in: First, the officer claimed that he was standing outside the work bay when he fired. Later, Hernandez said he was standing "eye to eye" inside the work bay with Ramirez-Diaz. if we do it its called perjury and we can be jailed for it. if cops do it it's called testilying and it isn't a big deal Original Article Jury gives $1 mil in Phoenix shooting Jahna Berry The Arizona Republic May. 11, 2005 12:00 AM A federal jury awarded $1 million on Tuesday to the family of a man who was wounded by a Phoenix police officer in May 2001. Officer Hector Hernandez shot Gerardo Ramirez-Diaz, during a confrontation at an east Phoenix storage business. Police said Ramirez-Diaz threw a vacuum at one officer and Hernandez shot him in the abdomen when Ramirez-Diaz seemed poised to hurl a brake drum at him. The Police Department's Professional Standards Bureau investigated the shooting and cleared Hernandez. Ramirez-Diaz's family, however, filed an excessive-force lawsuit in federal court. During the weeklong trial, the jury was swayed by evidence that Ramirez-Diaz was not physically intimidating, the plaintiff's lawyers said. Ramirez-Diaz was mentally ill, half-blind and relatively short. The jury also heard evidence that Hernandez changed his story, said Ramirez-Diaz's attorneys, Augustine Jimenez and Stephen Montoya. First, the officer claimed that he was standing outside the work bay when he fired. Later, Hernandez said he was standing "eye to eye" inside the work bay with Ramirez-Diaz. The eight-person jury awarded $750,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages. The defense won't have to pay any damages if Magistrate David Duncan determines that the officer's actions are covered by "qualified immunity," said David Damron, a Sanders & Parks attorney who helped represent Hernandez. Qualified immunity would apply to the case if the officer's actions were reasonable and if the officer believed at the time that his actions were constitutional.