It should have told Will County, Illinois, not frame anybody for the rape and murder of that anybody's daughter. Either go bankrupt or properly train your police force.
From sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com:
Original Article
04/07/2010
By Steve Schmadeke
But damages are reduced to $8 million from $12.2 million
An appeals court Wednesday agreed with a federal jury's 2007 finding that Will County police framed _____ for the rape and murder of his 3-year-old daughter Riley, but reduced the damages awarded to _____ and his wife from $12.2 million to $8 million.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals chastised the investigators on the case, implying that their decision to quickly rule out Riley's 2004 death as the work of a sexual predator was "absurd."
The court, in a 52-page decision by Judge Terence Evans, also found that detectives lacked probable cause to arrest _____ using the "exceedingly weak evidence" they had assembled.
_____ was arrested four months after the death of his daughter, who was sexually assaulted, bound with duct tape and drowned in a Wilmington creek. _____ gave police a videotaped confession that he said was fabricated. The videotape was not shown during the civil trial.
Shortly after _____'s arrest, Edward Hayes, a detective supervisor, called the FBI and told them to stop testing DNA evidence, trial evidence showed. Testing by a private lab later ruled out _____ as a suspect, and he was released in 2005 after eight months behind bars.
On Wednesday, the appeals court upheld the 2007 jury verdict, but found that its awards for _____'s false-arrest claim and his wife Melissa's claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress were excessive.
The jury's original award of $15.5 million in damages had already been reduced.
"We thought it was a stunning rebuke of the defendant's entire case," said Kathleen Zellner, the _____' attorney. "I don't think we could have got a better result."
Zellner said the couple still live in Will County with their teenage son and a daughter who recently turned 4.
In a statement, the Will County state's attorney's office said it was pleased that the damages were reduced but "firmly" believes the deputies had probable cause to arrest _____ and should not be liable for any damages.
No other arrests have been made in the case, which is being handled by Will County with help from the FBI.
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"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
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