A US jury has awarded $50 million in damages to a man who spent nearly 10 years in pris0n after being wr0ngfully conv!cted of mùrder, his lawyers said Tuesday.
A federal jury in Chicago on Monday ruled in favor of Marcel Brown, 34, giving the largest award to a single wr0ngful-conv!ction plaintiff in US history, Loevy & Loevy, the law firm representing him said.
Brown was arr£sted and sentenced to 35 years in pris0n after he was conv!cted of being an acc0mplice in the 2008 mùrder of a 19-year-old man.
But in 2018 the ca.se against him was dropped and he was released after his lawyers presented evidence that the c0nfession had been obtained from him !llegally.
According to Loevy & Loevy, “Chicago police officers locked (Brown) in an interr0gation room for more than 30 hours, interr0gated him relentlessly, deprived him of food, den!ed his repeated requests for a phone call, and prevented him from sleeping.”
After a two-week trial in Chicago, the jury unanimously agreed with Brown’s defense team “that the police coerced his statement and fabricated evidence,” the law firm said in its statement.
The jury awarded Brown $10 million in compensatory damages for the time between his arrest and conviction, and $40 million in damages for his time in prison and after.
“Justice was finally served for me and my family today,” Brown said outside the court, according to his lawyers.
Peoplesmind