Denver has moved to appeal a nearly $14 million judgment against the city, after jurors found police officers violated a group of plaintiffs’ constitutional rights in their response to 2020 protests.

The case is one of several filed in Colorado’s federal trial court over the use of projectiles and chemical weapons against demonstrations in downtown Denver. Protesters assembled in Denver and other cities after bystander video captured a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, causing his death.

A 2022 jury trial before U.S. District Court Senior Judge R. Brooke Jackson resulted in a favorable verdict for the injured plaintiffs. The parties continued to address other issues after trial and Jackson entered a final judgment in the case in August.

Denver then filed its appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

The city’s opening brief, submitted on Dec. 23, argued Jackson made multiple errors, including by giving an allegedly faulty jury instruction, allowing improper testimony from Denver’s independent police monitor and declining to find Denver was not liable as a matter of law.

The plaintiffs have until late February to file their response.

With similar protest-related cases awaiting trial in federal court, the city has also approved millions of dollars in settlements stemming from its arrests of protesters for violating an overnight curfew and the use of crowd control tactics allegedly without warning.

The case is Packard et al. v. City and County of Denver et al.