Felony Justice
Jury awards practically $60M to former police officer for wrongful prosecution in intercourse assault case
Federal jurors in Detroit awarded about $58.5 million Tuesday to a person who was a police officer in Duval County, Florida, when he stated he was wrongly charged with sexually abusing a baby in Michigan. (Picture from Shutterstock)
Federal jurors in Detroit awarded about $58.5 million Tuesday to a person who was a police officer in Duval County, Florida, when he stated he was wrongly charged with sexually abusing a baby in Michigan.
Jurors awarded Sean MacMaster $33 million in compensatory damages towards David Busacca, a Michigan State Police officer, and Brian Kolodziej, a former Michigan assistant legal professional common, report the Detroit Free Press, the Associated Press and WXYZ. Jurors additionally awarded punitive damages of $10 million towards Busacca and $15 million towards Kolodziej.
Jurors stated the defendants acted “deliberately, intentionally or with reckless disregard for the reality” in pursuing the costs.
Legal professionals for MacMaster had alleged that Kolodziej pursued the costs to impress a girl near MacMaster’s ex-wife, who was engaged in a custody battle with MacMaster, in response to the AP.
Michigan Legal professional Basic Dana Nessel dropped the legal sexual conduct cost towards MacMaster in 2021. At about that point, Kolodziej resigned from Nessel’s workplace amid proof that he was in a romantic relationship with a special lady in a sexual assault case that he oversaw. Based on the AP, he pleaded no contest to willful neglect of responsibility and gave up his legislation license.
Representing himself at trial, Kolodziej stated his resignation from the legal professional common’s workplace “has completely nothing to do with the info of this case supporting possible trigger for an arrest warrant and a search warrant,” the AP experiences.
Busacca’s lawyer stated his shopper was a highway patrol trooper supervised by others, and he was “not going out on a limb right here to assist Brian Kolodziej get a girlfriend.”
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