Search | Wrongly Convicted

Overdetained California Prisoner Wins $21,800 for False Imprisonment

Article • May 15, 2009 • from PLN May, 2009

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Damages, Administrative Exhaustion, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment

Overdetained California Prisoner Wins $21,800 for False Imprisonment by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg The California Court of Appeal upheld a Superior Court verdict of $21,800 against state prison officials in a lawsuit filed by a prisoner whose eventually-corrected good time credit earning rate resulted in his being released …

Indeterminate Commitment Order Reversed on Appeal

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Appeals, Retroactivity, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Sex Offender Treatment, Civil Commitment

Indeterminate Commitment Order Reversed on Appeal by On March 15, 2007, a California superior court erroneously granted a motion requesting the involuntary commitment of David Litmon, Jr. for an indeterminate length of time. The State filed the motion under the terms of Proposition 83, which went into effect in 2006 …

Mississippi Woman Awarded $75,000 for Wrongful Incarceration Due to Court Clerk Error

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment, Immunity/Liability, Municipal Liability, False Arrest, Arrest Warrants

Mississippi Woman Awarded $75,000 for Wrongful Incarceration Due to Court Clerk Error by On October 19, 2005, a federal jury in Mississippi awarded Michelle Hobbs $75,000 after she was wrongfully detained for 4 hours based on an arrest warrant mistakenly issued by a court clerk. Hobbs's initial arrest occurred in …

Missouri DOC Ordered to Pay Ex-Prisoner $10,600 for Wrongful Imprisonment

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Misconduct/Corruption, DOC/BOP misconduct, Damages, Wrongful Imprisonment

Missouri DOC Ordered to Pay Ex-Prisoner $10,600 for Wrongful Imprisonment by On May 20, 2005, a federal jury in Eastern Missouri awarded ex-prisoner, Daryl Davis, $10,600 after corrections ...

Plaintiffs Prevail in Objections to Taxed Bill of Costs

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Costs, Sentencing, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

Plaintiffs Prevail in Objections to Taxed Bill of Costs by Following their arrest, conviction and imprisonment in 2002, Plaintiffs Kimberly Sykes and Tevya Urquhart, had the convictions overturned on appeal in 2004. Each woman then filed suit against various police officers in 2005 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983 alleging …

$4,000 Settlement in Failure to Arraign

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Criminal Prosecution, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

$4,000 Settlement in Failure to Arraign by Washington state’s King County Jail has paid $4,000 to settle the claim of Michael Chiofar, which asserted damages for the failure of the jail to assure that he was arraigned within 72 hours of his arrest as required by Washington law. He claimed …

$15,000,000 Verdict for LA Police Officers Upheld

Article • May 15, 2009

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Civil Procedure, Damages, Wrongful Imprisonment, Employee Litigation, False Arrest

$15,000,000 Verdict for LA Police Officers Upheld by On July 14, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a $15,000,000 verdict for three LA police officers who suffered civil rights violations related to an improper and negligent investigation into the officers’ alleged illegal conduct. Paul Harper, …

Time Spent in Civil Commitment Detention Credited Toward Criminal Sentence

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Civil Commitment

Time Spent in Civil Commitment Detention Credited Toward Criminal Sentence by Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal has held that there is no meaningful distinction between incarceration in prison or jail and confinement in a sex offender civil commitment facility, for the purposes of sentence calculation. The Court’s ruling came …

Court Orders BOP to Recalculate Prisoner’s Good Time

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Good Time, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

Court Orders BOP to Recalculate Prisoner’s Good Time by On January 10, 2007, U.S. Magistrate Judge Janice M. Stewart granted a habeas corpus petition filed by a federal prisoner who alleged that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) miscalculated his good conduct time (GCT). George Scott Kelly was convicted of felony …

Eighth Circuit Holds Failure of U.S. Parole Commission to Hold Early Termination Hearing Does Not Make Custody Illegal

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Eighth Circuit Holds Failure of U.S. Parole Commission to Hold Early Termination Hearing Does Not Make Custody Illegal by The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that 18 U.S.C. sec. 4211(c)(1) creates only a right to an early parole termination hearing, not a right to release in the absence …

Dismissal of Suit Challenging Loss of Diminution Credits Upheld

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Prison Labor, Education, Civil Procedure, Parties, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment

Dismissal of Suit Challenging Loss of Diminution Credits Upheld by On May 8, 2008, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld the dismissal of a prisoner suit challenging the loss of diminution credits. Alfred Fraction and Gregory Nutter, Maryland prisoners, sued the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and …

New York Civil Case Settled in 1977 by Simply Clarifying Rule

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Protests, Arrestee Searches, Crime, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

New York Civil Case Settled in 1977 by Simply Clarifying Rule by A U.S. district court in New York allowed the New York City Police Department (NYCPD) to settle a civil case in 1977 by stipulating and clarifying the NYCPD’s policy on bystanders remaining in the area of an arrest …

California Unlawful Arrest and Excessive Force Nets $90,000

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment, Police, False Arrest, Excessive Force (Police)

California Unlawful Arrest and Excessive Force Nets $90,000 by The City of Salinas, California paid a Daly City man $90,000 to settle his lawsuit for unlawful arrest, detention and excessive force. Maurice Goodman, an African American staff paralegal for the San Mateo County Superior Court, and coach and team president …

$16,000 Awarded in Father's Day False Arrest

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Damages, Wrongful Imprisonment, Family Law, Fathers in Prison, Police, False Arrest, Arrest Warrants

$16,000 Awarded in Father's Day False Arrest by On November 30, 2005, John McHenry of Delaware County, Pennsylvania was awarded $1,000 in compensatory damages and an additional $15,000 in punitive damages as a result of his civil rights suit for false arrest. On June 16, 2002, Father's Day, McHenry was …

Section 2501 Imposes Jurisdictional Limitation for False Imprisonment; Claim Must Be Brought Within Six Years

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Limitations, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Federal Tort Claims Act

Section 2501 Imposes Jurisdictional Limitation for False Imprisonment; Claim Must Be Brought Within Six Years by The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a false imprisonment claim against the United States. Because the action was not brought within the six year …

California Appellate Court: First-Degree Murderer Released After 24 Years And Four Governor-Reversals Of Grants Of Parole

Article • April 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

California Appellate Court: First-Degree Murderer Released After 24 Years And Four Governor-Reversals Of Grants Of Parole by The California Court of Appeal, in 2-1 decision, overruled Governor Schwarzenegger’s fourth reversal of a grant of parole for a 60-year-old female first-degree murderer after finding that her release was not supported by …

Obama Administration Contends Prisoner Has No Right to DNA Testing

Article • March 15, 2009

Filed under: DNA Testing/Samples, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Obama Administration Contends Prisoner Has No Right to DNA Testing by David C Fathi By David C. Fathi DNA testing is a uniquely powerful crime-solving tool. Testing crime scene evidence using new and advanced techniques has solved many previously unsolved crimes, leading to the arrest and conviction of rapists and …

$1,375 Settlement For 11 Days Excessive Federal Imprisonment

Article • March 15, 2009

Filed under: Settlements, Sentencing, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment

$1,375 Settlement For 11 Days Excessive Federal Imprisonment by Ex federal prisoner and Washington, D.C., resident Isaac McKelvin filed an administrative tort claim with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), for being incarcerated 11 days past his mandatory release date. He was paid $1,375 …

Sixth Circuit Outlines Exceptions to Heck Favorable-Termination Doctrine

Article • February 15, 2009 • from PLN February, 2009

Filed under: Disciplinary Litigation, Public Defenders, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Restitution, Municipal Liability

Sixth Circuit Outlines Exceptions to Heck Favorable-Termination Doctrine by Sixth Circuit Outlines Exceptions to Heck Favorable-Termination Doctrine The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held the favorable-termination doctrine does not apply to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 actions brought by prisoners who were foreclosed from challenging their incarceration in a habeas …

Federal Prisoner Eligible For Community Placement Despite BOP Regulations

Article • January 15, 2009

Filed under: Sentencing, Parole, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Probation

Federal Prisoner Eligible For Community Placement Despite BOP Regulations by Bob Williams By: Bob Williams The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has invalidated Bureau of Prisons (BOP) community placement regulations as inconsistent with congressional intent. Florence (Colorado) Federal Correctional Institution Warden, Ron Wiley, appealed a 2006 …