Michigan Man Awarded $3.5M After He Was Wrongly Imprisoned For 15 Days
(CBS) A jury has awarded $3.5 million to a Detroit man for his wrongful arrest and jailing in a case of mistaken identity.
Marvin Seales of Detroit was arrested in 2012, and jailed for 15 days by Detroit police searching for fugitive, Roderick Siner. Siner, had been using the name 'Marvin Seals' as an alias and was wanted in connection with a drive-by shooting.
Seales sued the city of Detroit and Thomas Zberkot, the arresting officer.
According to a release, with interest and sanctions the verdict will exceed $4.5 Million Dollars, making it he largest verdict for wrongful imprisonment ever in the State of Michigan. The case was tried for 4 days prior to the verdict.
Attorney James Harrington of The Fieger Law Firm:
"The facts clearly showed that my client, Marvin Seales was not the person who was named in the criminal warrant. That person's name was Rodrick Siner who had no relationship or resemblance to Mr. Seales. Mr. Seales informed the police of the mis-identification and the police ignored him while Mr. Seales rotted in a jail cell. The police could have easily corrected their mistake by simply examining the LIEN computer system."
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