The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday settled a federal excessive force lawsuit filed by the family of 13-year-old Andy Lopez, who was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy in 2013.

A county spokeswoman said the $3 million settlement, which the board unanimously approved in a closed-door session, includes legal fees but does not admit liability or fault on behalf of the county.

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Robert Weisberg, a criminal law expert at Stanford Law School, said the case could be a precedent for future cases in the 9th Circuit “because it could suggest less deference to police,” but those cases will still be decided on the specific facts of the case, so it’s hard to predict how much impact the Lopez case will have.

“The key to this decision was its effect on this case,” Weisberg said, and that it portends a “mildly encouraging but uncertain future for new plaintiffs.”

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He also said that while the Supreme Court chose not to review this case, it could review a future case that is similarly favorable to plaintiffs and potentially rule against it, creating a true national precedent.