A jury's decision last week to award more than $562,000 to a 40-year-old man who was repeatedly punched in the head and tased by Portland police is the largest sum awarded by a jury in a police brutality case in city history.

That’s according to the city’s Risk Management Division, which -- in response to a public information request by The Oregonian -- compiled a short list of the top verdicts against the city in police use-of-force incidents.

Last week, after four days of evidence and argument in Multnomah County Circuit Court, jurors voted 9-3 to award Jason Cox every dollar he’d been asking for: $562,129.

The jury found that Portland police had committed a battery against Cox as they arrested him in June 2011 under suspicion of drunken driving. A surveillance video recorded the encounter, unbeknownst to police, showing that Cox hadn’t taken a swing at officers before they pummeled him.

A story about the Sept. 29 verdict generated more than 400 comments from readers -- many expressing dismay over the way police handled the case. Below are answers to some commonly asked questions:

Will the city (i.e. taxpayers) or insurance pay the $562,000 to Cox?

The city will be responsible for paying the entire award. As far as these cases go, the city is self-insured for the first $1 million of liability -- and after that, an insurance company pays for amounts exceeding $1 million.

What's more, Cox's attorneys, Greg and Jason Kafoury, aren't able to seek additional money from the city for attorneys' fees -- so the $562,000 will be all the city pays out.

Will the city appeal the jury's verdict?

That hasn’t been decided. Any decision likely will involve some input from the city council.

Mayor Charlie Hales last week expressed his disagreement with the jury’s findings. Hales issued this statement: "While we don’t agree with the verdict, we appreciate the jury’s time and consideration of the evidence, and we respect the court’s process. Since the incident occurred in June 2011, the Police Bureau has changed its use-of-force policies and training to refocus on de-escalation. Mayor Hales is continuing to work with the bureau to improve relations with the community."

What kind of implications does the jury verdict have on the officers involved: Jeffrey Elias, Robert Bruders and Sarah Kerwin?

In 2011, the police bureau’s Internal Affairs division conducted a preliminary review of their encounter with Cox -- and that included watching the video jurors found so convincing. The Independent Police Review committee also reviewed the case.

Both the division and the committee found that the officers hadn’t violated any policies and that their actions didn’t warrant any discipline.

But in light of the jury’s verdict, police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said Internal Affairs will look at evidence presented during the trial. If any is found to be new and significant, Internal Affairs could re-open its investigation, Simpson said.

What's that -- "could re-open its investigation?" You mean that's not a requirement?

A long list of police reforms approved by a federal judge in August calls for full investigations by Internal Affairs and Independent Police Review in use-of-force cases in which juries side against police. But the wording of that particular reform contains a clause that’s not clearly written.

Simpson, the police spokesman, said his interpretation of the clause is that it doesn’t require full investigations if a review has already been done. But the bureau is still open to the idea of a full investigation because it’s “in the spirit of the agreement” and the bureau wants “to get it right," Simpson said.

What does this not-so-clear clause say?

The reform -- and clause, which we've italicized -- reads as follows: "If an officer's use of force gives rise to a finding of liability in a civil trial, the PPB shall conduct a full IA investigation with the rebuttable presumption that the force used also violated PPB policy, which presumption can only be overcome by specific, credible evidence by a preponderance of evidence if no IA investigation has previously been conducted based on the same allegation of misconduct and reached an administrative finding."

So now that we now know how the Cox verdict fits into the larger picture, what Portland police use-of-force case garnered the second-highest jury award?

In December 2012, a Multnomah County jury awarded Gallagher Smith, 27, $306,000 after finding that police falsely arrested, battered and maliciously prosecuted him. Officers used a stun gun and pepper spray on him, punched him and dog-piled on top of him before they unlawfully arrested him for criminally trespassing on a downtown sidewalk in 2010.

Smith had quarreled with a night-club doorman about having to wait in line but questioned police when they told him he couldn't use the sidewalk in the general area.

What case is the third-highest use-of-force verdict?

In March 2012, a federal jury awarded Daniel Halsted $206,372. The jury found that Portland police Officer Benjamin J. Davidson used excessive force when in 2008 he fired a Taser five times into the back of Halsted, whom he'd wrongly suspected of spray-painting graffiti. Halsted testified that it was dark and he ran when someone carrying a flashlight began to chase him.

With attorneys fees, the city paid out a total of $258,040.

What about the largest police use-of-force settlements?

The city has paid out much higher amounts in settlements for police use-of-force cases. Here are the top two:

In April 2013, the city agreed to pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit filed by William Kyle Monroe, a man diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Monroe was permanently disabled after Officer Dane Reister mistakenly fired lethal rounds at him from a beanbag shotgun in June 2011.

In May 2010, the city agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle a lawsuit over the 2006 death of James Chasse Jr., a 42-year-old who had schizophrenia. Chasse died after police used force to take him into custody after they thought he'd urinated along a Pearl District sidewalk.

Also of note, in February 2012, the city agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of Aaron Campbell, a Northeast Portland man who was unarmed and had his hands behind his head when he was fatally shot in the back by police.

-- Aimee Green