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2014
TOP VERDICTS NY
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EDITOR’S COMMENT This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiffs’ counsel and Robertson’s counsel. Additional information was gleaned from court documents. MP3tunes’ counsel was not asked to contribute.
NUMBER SIX
CIVIL RIGHTS
Government — Police, Counties — Municipalities — 42 USC 1983 — Constitutional Law — Due Process — Wrongful Incarceration — Intentional Torts — Malicious Prosecution
Investigator coerced false confession, plaintiff claimed
AMOUNT $40,000,000
TYPE Verdict-Plaintiff
CASE Deskovic v. City of Peekskill VENUE Federal
JUDGE Kenneth M. Karas
DATE October 23, 2014 INJURY
TYPE(S) mental/psychological - depression, post-traumatic stress disorder PLAINTIFF(S) Jeffrey Deskovic (Male, 17 Years)
PLAINTIFF
ATTORNEY(S) Nick J. Brustin, Emma Freudenberger, Farhang Heydari, Anna
Benvenutti Hoffmann and Aaron W. Scherzer of Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP, New York, NY
FACTS & ALLEGATIONS On Jan. 25, 1990, plaintiff Jeffrey Deskovic, 16, was arrested. Deskovic was believed to have raped and murdered a 15-year-old resident of Peekskill, Westchester County. Deskovic’s arrest was based on a confession that he provided during an interrogation.
The matter was investigated by policemen Walter Brovarski, David Levine, Thomas McIntyre and Eugene Tumolo, who were employed by the city of Peekskill; coroner Dr. Louis Roh, who was employed by Westchester County’s coroner, Millard Hyland; and investigator Daniel Stephens, who was employed by the sheriff of neighboring Putnam County. During the ensuing trial, Deskovic was represented by attorney Peter Insero, who had been provided by The Legal Aid Society.
On Dec. 7, 1990, a jury found that Deskovic had committed rape and murder. Deskovic was incacerated in Elmira Correctional Facility, in Elmira.
In September 2006, Deskovic’s conviction was overturned. Investigators analyzed semen that had been recovered from the victim, and the fluid was matched to a man who ultimately acknowledged that he had committed the crimes for which Deskovic was incarcerated.
Deskovic sued Brovarski, Hyland, Insero, Levine, McIntyre, Roh, Stephens and Tumolo; Peekskill, Putnam County and Westchester County; the Legal Aid Society; and one of Elmira Correctional Facility’s guards, Alan Tweed. Deskovic alleged that he was denied his right of due process, that he was maliciously prosecuted, that he was falsely incarcerated and that he was thusly subjected to a violation of the rights guaranteed by 42 U.S.C. 1983. He also alleged that he was assaulted by Tweed.
In 2010, Deskovic, Insero and the Legal Aid Society negotiated a settlement. Terms were not disclosed. In 2011, Deskovic, Brovarski, Levine, McIntyre, Tumolo and Peekskill negotiated a settlement. Peekskill agreed to pay $4.4 million. In 2013, Deskovic, Hyland, Roh and Westchester County negotiated a settlement. Westchester County agreed to pay $6.5 million. Judge Kenneth Karas severed the case against Tweed, and the matter proceeded to a trial against Stephens and Putnam County.
Deskovic claimed that his confession was coerced during a six-hour-long interrogation that was not attended by his parents or an attorney. He claimed that Stephens, who was performing a polygraph, employed confusing, deceiving and intimidating tactics that were intended to extract a confession. Deskovic also claimed that Stephens and other investigators disclosed confidential details of their investigation. Plaintiff’s counsel suggested that Stephens and the other investigators hoped that Deskovic would retain that information, incorporate it into his own account of the incident and thereby implicate himself.
Plaintiff’s counsel also claimed that Deskovic’s prosecution was aided by fabrications. They claimed that prosecutors knew that recovered semen could not be linked to Deskovic, but that Stephens fabricated evidence that suggested that the semen could have
been a residual product of a sexual encounter that was not related to the victim’s rape and murder. They claimed that Stephens falsely reported that Deskovic had stated that the victim’s assailant may not have ejaculated during the rape.
Defense counsel contended that Deskovic’s confession occurred during a procedurally correct interrogation, that the confession was not coerced and that Stephens reasonably believed that Deskovic had committed rape and murder.
INJURIES/DAMAGES Deskovic was arrested on Jan. 25, 1990. During his ensuing prosecution, he endured months of anguish and fear. On Dec. 7, 1990, Deskovic was convicted and incarcerated. His incarceration lasted until September 2006. Deskovic claimed that he was physically and sexually assaulted during his incarceration.
Deskovic also claimed that he suffers ongoing residual effects that include post-traumatic stress disorder. He claimed that he suffers depression, that he fears crowds and police, that he experiences nightmares, and that he believes that his incarceration has stigmatized him.
The parties stipulated that Deskovic’s incarceration caused a loss of $1.65 million of earnings. Deskovic sought recovery of that amount, damages for his imprisonment, and damages for his pain and suffering.
The parties negotiated a high/low stipulation: Damages could not exceed $10 million, but they had to equal or exceed $6 million.
RESULT The jury found that Stephens violated Deskovic’s right of due process. It deter- mined that Deskovic’s damages totaled $40 million. After the addition of the stipulated lost earnings, Deskovic’s award totaled $41.65 million. However, Deskovic recovered the stipulated limit: $10 million. The disclosed pretrial settlements totaled $10.9 million. Thus, Deskovic’s total disclosed recovery was $20.9 million.
JEFFREY
DESKOVIC $15,000,000 Personal Injury: Future Pain And Suffering
$25,000,000 Personal Injury: wrongful incarceration
ACTUAL
AWARD $20,900,000
EDITOR’S COMMENT This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiff’s counsel, Insero’s counsel and the Legal Aid Society’s counsel. Additional information was gleaned from court documents, an article that was published by The Journal News and an article that was published by the New York Law Journal. The remaining defendants’ counsel did not respond to the reporter’s phone calls.
NUMBER SEVEN
CIVIL RIGHTS
Government — Police, Counties — Municipalities — 42 USC 1983 — Constitutional Law — Due Process — Wrongful Incarceration — Intentional Torts — Malicious Prosecution
Detective fabricated evidence, convicted men claimed
AMOUNT $36,000,000
TYPE Verdict-Mixed
CASE Restivo v. Nassau County VENUE Federal
JUDGE Joanna Seybert
DATE April 17, 2014
PLAINTIFF
ATTORNEY(S) Nick J. Brustin, Anna Benvenutti Hoffmann, Alexandra L. Lampert,
Elizabeth Daniel Vasquez and Joshua E. Dubin of Neufeld Scheck & Brustin, LLP, New York, NY: and,
Joshua E. Dubin; Joshua E. Dubin, Esq., P.A.; Fort Lauderdale, FL
TRIAL
LENGTH 4 weeks
FACTS & ALLEGATIONS On June 20, 1985, plaintiff Dennis Halstead and plaintiff John Restivo were arrested. The men were believed to have raped and murdered a 16-year- old girl. A third man, John Kogut, was also arrested. Kogut provided a confession that implicated Halstead and Restivo, and he was ultimately convicted. On Dec. 3, 1986, Halstead and Restivo were convicted.
16 VerdictSearch’s Top New York Settlements of 2014