By Caroline Kubzansky
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — A federal jury on Monday awarded $50 million in damages to a man exonerated in a 2008 murder, one of the largest sums ever awarded for a wrongful conviction.
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Marcel Brown, 34, spent about 10 years in prison after he was convicted of being an accomplice in the murder of 19-year-old Paris Jackson in Amundsen Park in the Galewood neighborhood, according to the complaint he filed in federal court in 2019. Brown was arrested at 18 and sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Brown was released from prison in 2018 and the criminal case against him was dropped following testimony from his mother and a lawyer hired by his mother, both of whom were prevented from speaking with him the night of his arrest.
He was awarded a certificate of innocence in 2019, the complaint states.
The lawsuit named the city of Chicago, a group of Chicago police officers, an assistant Cook County state’s attorney and Cook County, and argued that the defendants had violated his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, maliciously prosecuted him and intentionally caused him emotional distress when they prevented him from speaking with a lawyer and drew a false confession out of him after more than a day of interrogation later found to be illegal.
The unanimous, $50 million verdict came after a two-week trial that began Aug. 26, according to federal court records. The award is nearly double that given to Adam Gray in 2023, years after his release from prison for a wrongful conviction in a fatal double arson. Eddie Bolden was awarded $25.2 million in 2021 after being cleared in a double murder case from 1994.
The jury split the damages into $10 million for Brown’s detention preceding the trial and $40 million for the postconviction period, according to a court filing. The jury also ordered one of the detectives on the case to pay Brown $50,000 in punitive damages, court records show.
A spokesperson for the city law department said Monday night that the city was reviewing the verdict and assessing its options.
Speaking Monday evening outside the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, a beaming Brown addressed reporters surrounded by his attorneys and family members.
“Justice was finally served for me and my family today,” Brown said. “We’re just thankful, being able to be here today. Thank you, jurors.”
Attorney Locke Bowman of Loevy and Loevy said the verdict should serve as a “wakeup call” to city leaders “that it is time to get a grip on the way the Chicago Police Department is conducting its interrogations.”
Wearing a light blue suit and tie, Brown gestured to his girlfriend, daughter and mother, whom he described as “my rock and my support” throughout his years behind bars. He said he has found work with the anti-violence organization Ceasefire.
As for the future, Brown said he wanted to “take care of my family and enjoy my freedom.”
After the news conference, Brown scooped up his daughter, grinned one more time for a scrum of TV cameras and walked off into the Loop.
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