Search | Wrongly Convicted

Florida Juveniles Get Lost among Transfer Shuffle, Extending Stays in Wasting Money

Article • December 15, 2003

Filed under: DOC/BOP misconduct, Failure to Protect (General), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Wrongful Imprisonment, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Juvenile Prisons

Florida Juveniles Get Lost among Transfer Shuffle, Extending Stays in Wasting Money by Florida Juveniles Get Lost among Transfer Shuffle, Extending Stays in Wasting Money By David M. Reutter Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) regularly transfers its wards among several programs, resulting in extended terms of incarceration, which has …

Japanese Man Awarded $500,000 For Being Held In Bahamas Prison For 8 Years Without A Court Hearing

Article • December 15, 2003

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Prisoners-International

Japanese Man Awarded $500,000 For Being Held In Bahamas Prison For 8 Years Without A Court Hearing by Japanese Man Awarded $500,000 For Being Held In Bahamas Prison For 8 Years Without A Court Hearing In August 1992, Atain Takitota traveled from his home in Osaka, Japan to Paradise Island, …

Mediation Costs Not Taxable in §1983 Suit

Article • September 15, 2003 • from PLN September, 2003

Filed under: Summary Judgment, Costs, Mediation, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity

Mediation Costs Not Taxable in §1983 Suit by Mediation Costs Not Taxable in §1983 Suit The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that state officials named as defendants in a prisoner's civil rights suit could not be taxed costs for mediation. The decision reverses the U.S. District Court for …

Overt Act Unnecessary to Allege Conspiracy Claim in 7th Circuit

Article • August 15, 2003 • from PLN August, 2003

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Civil Procedure, Complaints, Conspiracy (Civil Procedure), Wrongful Imprisonment

Overt Act Unnecessary to Allege Conspiracy Claim in 7th Circuit by The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that it is not necessary to allege an overt act to state a conspiracy claim. The court also held that dismissal of a prisoner's retaliation claim for failure …

Gov. Ryan's Song

Article • July 15, 2003 • from PLN July, 2003

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment, Pardons/Clemency, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty, State Legislation

Gov. Ryan's Song by Mumia Abu-Jamal by Mumia Abu Jamal Illinois Gov. George Ryan, in the last passing days of his first and only term, saved the best for last. He sent shock waves across the nation when he issued four pardons to men sitting on the Condemned Units of …

Compensating the Wrongly Convicted, or Not

Article • July 15, 2003 • from PLN July, 2003

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Judicial Misconduct, Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, DNA Testing/Samples, Damages, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity, Judicial Immunity, Prosecutorial Immunity, Sovereign Immunity, Death Penalty/Death Row, Death Penalty, Death Row, State Legislation, Federal Legislation

to save your life. Nine who confessed were fully or borderline mentally retarded. Despite the fact that the wrongful imprisonment usually came during critical wage-earning years when careers and families ...

Wichita Kansas Pays $6.2 Million to Settle Detainees' Lawsuit

Article • June 15, 2003 • from PLN June, 2003

Filed under: Prison Labor, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Restitution

Wichita Kansas Pays $6.2 Million to Settle Detainees' Lawsuit by Wichita Kansas Pays $6.2 Million to Settle Detainees' Lawsuit On May 7, 2002, Wichita's City Council approved $6.2 million to be awarded to the 7,000 citizens who had their 14th Amendment rights violated. The suit filed by what the city …

New Jersey Over Detains Prisoner Two Years Due to Illegal Sentence Calculation

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN October, 2004

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

New Jersey Over Detains Prisoner Two Years Due to Illegal Sentence Calculation by The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division has held that the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) cannot depart from the terms a sentencing judge imposes. In September 1994, prisoner Larry Hill was released on parole …

Ohio Prison Officials Cannot Alter Jail-Time Credit Award

Article • March 15, 2003 • from PLN March, 2003

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Ohio Prison Officials Cannot Alter Jail-Time Credit Award by The Court of Common Pleas of Marion County, Ohio, has granted release to an Ohio prisoner on habeas corpus after finding that Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DORC) officials illegally altered a court sentencing entry to "correct" a perceived error in …

Jones v. Markham et al, IL, Complaint, Wrongful Conviction Imprisonment, 2003

Brief • March 11, 2003

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

and abuse, when they violate police department rules and regulations, including the fabrication of evidence; false arrests, wrongful imprisonments, malicious prosecutions and wrongful convictions; making ...

Washington Police Scientists' Work Under Scrutiny

Article • February 15, 2003 • from PLN February, 2003

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Crime, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Washington Police Scientists' Work Under Scrutiny by Innocence Project Northwest (IPNW) is undertaking a review of cases in which Washington State Patrol scientists Arnold Melnikoff and Michael Hoover conducted forensic testing or offered expert testimony. It was recently revealed that Melnikoff engaged in scientific fraud during his tenure as the …

Los Angeles County Settles Overdetention Suits for $27 Million

Article • January 15, 2003 • from PLN January, 2003

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Damages, Wrongful Imprisonment, Municipal Liability

Los Angeles County Settles Overdetention Suits for $27 Million by John E Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg In the largest legal settlement in its history, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed in May, 2002 to pay $27 million to compensate 400,000 former jail prisoners who had been held …

Jail Over Detention From Lack of Release Policy Actionable Under Section 1983

Article • December 15, 2002 • from PLN December, 2002

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Jail Over Detention From Lack of Release Policy Actionable Under Section 1983 by An Indiana county jail's lack of policy for the eventual release of detainees arrested pursuant to a Body Attachment raised sufficient facts to defeat the sheriff's motion for summary judgment, thus allowing an overdetained prisoner's civil rights …

Stucker v. County of Sacramento, CA, Claim, Wrongful Imprisonment, 2002

Brief • July 22, 2002

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment

Stucker v. County of Sacramento, CA, Claim, Wrongful Imprisonment, 2002 ..- Please file in person, or mail to· r~ Board of Supervi$ol'$, 700 H Street, ,-,...._ _~. . '-" Keep one (1) copy for your ...

Illinois Man Awarded $15 Million for 15 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment

Article • July 15, 2002 • from PLN July, 2002

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Illinois Man Awarded $15 Million for 15 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment by On October 29, 2001, a federal jury in Chicago awarded $15 million plus about $2 million in attorney fees ...

California Jury Awards $1 Million in Jail Rape

Article • June 15, 2002 • from PLN June, 2002

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Wrongful Imprisonment

California Jury Awards $1 Million in Jail Rape by On November 20, 2001, a Los Angeles county jury returned a $1 million verdict to 39 year-old Jay Reynolds, a former jail detainee who was raped by his cellmates after a judge ordered his release from jail. Reynolds was arrested in …

D.C. Wrongly Jails Mentally Ill Man for Two Years

Article • April 15, 2002 • from PLN April, 2002

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment, Mental Health

D.C. Wrongly Jails Mentally Ill Man for Two Years by D.C. Wrongly Jails Mentally Ill Man For Two Years Joseph Heard, 42, was released from the Washington D.C. jail on August 13, 2001. He served nearly 2 years in solitary confinement in the jail's mental health unit. The problem is …

Mistakenly Released Prisoners Have No Due Process Rights

Article • April 15, 2002 • from PLN April, 2002

Filed under: Liberty Interests, Sentencing, Good Time, Wrongful Imprisonment, Wrongful Release, Qualified Immunity

Mistakenly Released Prisoners Have No Due Process Rights by The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has held that prisoners who were released on mandatory supervision then arrested as escaped prisoners and reincarcerated without a hearing had no right to due process. Vincent Henderson, Daryelle Rexrode, and John Calella, …

$147,000 Paid for 3-1/2 Hour Overdetention and Strip Search of Mistaken Arrestee

Article • April 15, 2002 • from PLN April, 2002

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Attorney Fee Awards, Damages, Wrongful Imprisonment, Municipal Liability

$147,000 Paid for 3-1/2 Hour Overdetention and Strip Search of Mistaken Arrestee by John E Dannenberg The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict of $100,000 against the Little Rock, Arkansas police when, after a judge ordered the release of a mistakenly arrested woman, they failed to promptly …

Defendants Denied Summary Judgment in Wrongful Incarceration Suit

Article • April 15, 2002 • from PLN April, 2002

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity

denied summary judgment and the qualified immunity defense to defendants at the Allen County (Indiana) Jail in a case involving wrongful imprisonment. Shakidi Johnson was arrested on contempt of court ...