The eight-page ruling was released Monday after a six-month-long review. Circuit Judges Betty Fletcher, Eugene Siler, Jr., and Michael Hawkins reviewed the appeal submitted on May 17, 2007, in San Francisco. The judges decided an earlier decision by the district court to throw out the case should be overturned.

In August 2002, Madera Police were called to an apartment complex after they received reports of excessive noise. Officer Marcy Noriega placed 24-year-old Evarardo Torres in handcuffs and then put him in the back of her patrol car.

Torres fell asleep and then woke up and started banging on the glass. Noriega told Torres to settle down or she would have to use her taser. She attempted to grab her taser but pulled out her handgun instead. She shot Torres in the chest killing him reportedly by accident.

The Torres family filed a lawsuit against the City of Madera and the officer but the district court decided there were no grounds for the case. That is when the case was appealed.

The appeals judges said in their opinion released Monday that the case can move forward because Torres 4th Amendment rights may have been violated starting at the moment he was handcuffed through the shooting.

The City has offered the Torres family a settlement. The family's attorney said the offer was nowhere near what the Torres' deserve for a death case.