Syracuse, NY -- A federal jury Friday found a Syracuse police officer used excessive force in the arrest of a Liverpool man and awarded the man $25,000.

Elijah Johnson, 25, sued Syracuse officers Joseph Mauro, William LaShomb and Gordon Quonce, claiming they beat him unnecessarily during an arrest in 2014. The city of Syracuse defended the officers, saying they used appropriate physical force when Johnson resisted arrest.

The jury found that only Mauro used excessive force. The judge was undecided on whether to grant Mauro qualified immunity. Qualified immunity protects public officials from being sued directly for decisions made while on duty.

Punitive damages have not yet been determined.

The jury of five men and three women deliberated since around 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Late Friday, the jury requested a read back of testimony. The jury came to a decision just after 6 p.m.

“The main thing he wanted out of this case is his dignity,” Johnson’s lawyer Fred Lichtmacher said. “He wanted to show he couldn’t be treated this way, and he got that. This wasn’t about money. This was about, ‘Hey, you can’t drag me face down and start kicking me and punching me for no reason.’"

“They gave him his dignity," Lichtmacher said.

Johnson declined to comment through his lawyer.

He was arrested in 2014 and accused of throwing rocks at officers. In a criminal trial, which concluded in 2015, Johnson was acquitted of inciting a riot, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest but was found guilty of rioting and criminal trespass.

City of Syracuse spokesman Greg Loh, asked if the city planned to appeal the federal court’s decision, said “we are reviewing the jury’s verdict."

The city did not comment further.

Syracuse police union president Geoff Piedmonte, who was at the James M. Hanley Federal Building for the jury’s decision, said he was “surprised” by the verdict, He said he thought witnesses called by Lichtmacher contradicted themselves and said Johnson’s injuries “(weren’t) very substantial.”

The verdict in Johnson’s lawsuit comes after the city’s use of force policy was called into question last year when the city was sued by Alonzo Grant. A jury awarded Grant $1.5 million and determined officers used excessive force in his arrest in 2014.

In the last month, a Syracuse police officer was criticized by some community leaders for his use of force during the arrest of Shaolin Moore at a traffic stop for loud music. An internal police investigation found that the officers used proper force.

On Tuesday, the day after the police department announced the findings of its investigations into Moore’s stop, a Syracuse officer fatally shot a 74-year-old man. Onondaga County District attorney William Fitzpatrick said the man menaced the officer with a starter pistol. That incident is still being investigated.

As the jury reached its verdict Friday night, 25 attended a rally on the steps of Syracuse City Hall in a response to Moore’s traffic stop.

“I’m very proud of the Syracuse jury," Lichtmacher said. “There are a lot of very conservative people up here, who are pro-law enforcement. They were able to look at (Johnson) objectively and find that he was abused."

“That’s all you an ask for,” he said. "Every time you bring one of these cases, when you get a verdict, you hope that it sends a message that this shouldn’t be tolerated.”