A US jury has awarded $50 million in damages to a man who spent nearly 10 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder, his lawyers said Tuesday.
On Monday, a federal jury in Chicago ruled in favor of Marcel Brown, 34, granting him the largest award ever given to a single wrongful-conviction plaintiff in US history, according to Loevy & Loevy, the law firm representing him.
Brown had been arrested and sentenced to 35 years in prison after being convicted of being an accomplice in the 2008 murder of a 19-year-old man.
However, in 2018, the case against him was dropped and he was released when his lawyers presented evidence showing that his confession had been obtained illegally.
Loevy & Loevy said; “Chicago police officers locked (Brown) in an interrogation room for more than 30 hours, interrogated him relentlessly, deprived him of food, denied 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 stated.
The jury awarded Brown $10 million in compensatory damages for the period between his arrest and conviction, and $40 million in damages for his time in prison and the aftermath.
“Justice was finally served for me and my family today,” Brown said outside the court, according to his lawyers.
YOU MAY ALSO READ: Algerian Opposition candidates challenge Presidential Election results in Court