The City of Wilmington, North Carolina just spent a half million dollars to settle a lawsuit with a man who was falsely arrested for a sexual crime.
WECT News reports that, “In the days after [his] arrest in March of 2015, he lost a good job, custody of his adopted and biological children, and his reputation.” We all know how damaging this label can be.
To make matters worse, the court determined that the arresting detective “knew or should have known” that a judge dismissed a prior family court case in which the accusations were made, because the detective testified in that case! This goes to show how law enforcement often will do anything to secure a case even in the absence of evidence.
False arrests and convictions happen often. By a stroke of sheer luck, this man’s “first court appearance, he got the same judge who’d presided over his four-day custody hearing, where the same allegations of sexual abuse were leveled, and ultimately dismissed.” Had it not been for that luck, he could have very well been sitting in prison today.
At the end of the day, the $500,000 settlement he got from the city is nice, but cannot possibly make up for the damage caused to him. Hopefully it will discourage the city to think twice next time.
Well you can tell it wasn’t in florida the prosecutor would have had the judge changed saying it was a conflict of interest because he knew to much about the dismissed case
SMILE EVERYONE*****show rebellion to the registry with a big fat smile in your photo showing how ridicules this is! They actually have been asking me not to smile I’m like show me. I’ve been doing it for years and notice it catching on fast look at the website and at all the people and decide if you want to laugh it off. No one cares your sad or shocked and being robbed of your life but your looking crazy so smile F-it!
I guess it is not punishment!!!! Good job Judge for doing what others Judges failed to do Uphold the law!!
It’s good that he held them accountable, as it should be.
Can we sue the state for entrapment in a sex sting operation? (making false accusations, lawyers refusing to use the entrapment defense, and malicious prosecution (with the defense attorneys help)
(in Texas)
Dear Aracerly, you have to be determined actually innocent of the crime charged before any compensation will be ordered. Rest assured, the prosecution will fight such a ruling bc it proves them wrong.