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Articles in Verdict1

Massachusetts: Wrongful Conviction Suit Settled for $3.25 Million

The City of Boston has agreed to pay $3.25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 18 years for a series of rapes he did not commit.

Ulysses Charles was convicted in 1984 of raping three women at an apartment complex ...

$100,000 Settlement in Nebraska Jail Prisoner Suicide Suit

Sheridan County, Nebraska has agreed to pay $100,000 to the estate of a prisoner who committed suicide while at the Sheridan County Jail.

Jay Spotted Elk hung himself with a belt in his cell after being arrested on a misdemeanor charge of failure to appear. Spotted Elk was intoxicated and ...

Florida Woman Settles Lawsuit Against Sheriff’s Officers for $67,500 After Arrest While in Premature Labor

In June 2010, Melanie Dawn Williams, who had been arrested by officers after allegedly running a red light on her way to the St. Vincent’s Medical Center emergency room in Jacksonville, Florida when she was in premature labor, accepted a settlement in her lawsuit instead of going to trial.

Williams ...

California Wrongful Conviction Lawsuit Settled for $7.95 Million

A long-running lawsuit against the City of Long Beach, California for Thomas Goldstein’s wrongful murder conviction was settled in June 2010 for $7.95 million.

After serving 24 years in prison following his 1980 conviction, Goldstein was finally released based on new evidence that the police had coached the lone eyewitness ...

New York City Pays $9.9 Million to Settle Wrongful Conviction Suit

The City of New York will pay $9.9 million to a man who was wrongfully accused, arrested, convicted and imprisoned as the result of actions by disgraced former New York City police detective Louis J. Eppolito, who is now serving a life sentence plus 100 years for mob-related activities.

In ...

$33 Million Settlement in New York City Jails Strip Search Class-Action

by Matt Clarke

On March 16, 2010, New York City agreed to settle a long-standing class-action lawsuit challenging the strip search policy used in the city’s jails. The settlement was for over $33 million, which included an estimated $3 million in attorney fees.

The suit originated as a class-action civil ...

California Prison Settles Prisoner’s Excessive Force Suit for $15,000

On January 28, 2010, California prisoner Garrison S. Johnson, proceeding pro se, signed a settlement agreement to resolve a federal lawsuit he had filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming violations of his civil rights by officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

Johnson had brought ...

$10.5 Million Settlement in Tennessee Juvenile’s Death Caused by Guard’s Chokehold

The privately-operated Chad Youth Enhancement Center (Chad) in Ashland City, Tennessee paid $10.5 million to settle a lawsuit involving a juvenile’s death. The youth, Omega “Manny” Leach, 17, died from asphyxiation caused by a guard’s chokehold on June 2, 2007.

A surveillance camera caught what attorneys for Leach’s estate called ...

Washington State Federal Court: Unconstitutional to Shackle Prisoner in Labor

by Matt Clarke

On May 3, 2010, a U.S. District Court in Washington State held it was unconstitutional to shackle a prisoner in labor.

Cassandra Brawley, 30, was a Washington state prisoner. In 2006 she was arrested for second degree theft and received a fourteen-month prison sentence. She was five ...

$1.5 Million Settlement in Suffolk County Jail Class Action Toilet Suit

A $1.5 million settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit on behalf of approximately 4,000 former prisoners of Building 4 of Massachusetts’ Suffolk County House of Correction.

The complaint alleged Eighth Amendment violations for cruel and unusual punishment. When it was built, Building 4 lacked toilets or sinks ...