Author: Michael Lumer

$250,000 Settlement (plus legal fees)

In March 2021 about 25 people were attending a private party in Brooklyn when several dozen police officers, some of whom were heavily, arrived and arrested everyone present. No guns or drugs were recovered and nothing illegal was happening. Yet, even though two of our clients had a written lease for the space, the police arrested everyone there and charged them with trespassing.

We are pleased to announce that our firm has recently reached a settlement on behalf of the 21 people we represented. The City of New York will pay these plaintiffs a total of $250,000 and, in addition, will pay our legal fees and costs in an amount to be determined.

There was simply no basis for the police to arrest our clients. Even though the plaintiffs were only in custody for a few hours and did not suffer any physical injuries, the police misconduct was inexcusable. We are glad we could help our clients obtain fair compensation for what they experienced.

Conviction Vacated and Civil Case Settled

We are happy to announce that we have helped our client, CJ, overturn his conviction and settle his excessive force case. CJ was arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at trial of multiple charges. He was violently assaulted by the police during his arrest. The officers denied beating him at his criminal trial and denied that there was any video footage of the arrest.

During our civil case, we discovered that the NYPD did have video of the arrest and that this video clearly established that CJ was punched, kneed, and kicked several times while he lay on the ground with his hands clasping his wounds. The video directly contradicted the officers and should have been turned over before trial. Because it was not, CJ’s conviction was vacated. As a result, CJ shaved years off of his sentence. The officers settled CJ’s excessive force claim for $125k.

$1M Trial Verdict

On August 3, 2023, a federal jury in the Eastern District of New York returned a verdict in favor of our client, MH, agreeing that NYPD Detective Kevin Arias and NYPD PO Kevin Lee (both now retired) had caused him to be wrongly prosecuted. The jury awarded MH $300,000 in compensation for the 11 months he spent in custody and $700,000 in punitive damages against the two defendants.

On September 3, 2013, several men robbed a crowded social club in Queens. The police arrived while the crime was in progress and the suspects (and dozens of patrons) fled into the street. Lee arrested MH and later told his fellow officers that a witness had identified MH as one of the robbers. This claim was fundamentally false. The witness, and many other victims, went straight to the local station house where this witness told Arias that he only saw one of the robbers and that it was definitely not MH. The defendant officers deliberately chose not to put MH in a line up or conduct any other identification procedures. Instead, they simply told prosecutors that the witness had identified MH as a guilty party. As a result, MH sat in jail for 11 months until prosecutors asked the court to dismiss all charges.

At trial Lee continued to insist that he had done nothing wrong. Arias, however, admitted he could no longer say MH was involved in the crime and conceded that he had “failed” at his job. The jury was out for less than an hour before returning its verdict. It took 9 years and 11 months for MH’s vindication, but justice was finally done.

Client Beaten on Subway Receives $135k Settlement

Our client recently reached a favorable settlement for a completely unnecessary and vicious assault by police officers. JT was violently assaulted by police officers while riding the subway when he argued with them after they told him to exit. As reported by thecity.com, PO Adonis Long punched plaintiff twice in the head before throwing him onto the platform. He and his partner, PO Saha, then falsely claimed that the plaintiff had assaulted Long. The charges were eventually dismissed. Long is now himself facing departmental charges for using excessive force, including pepper spray and a choke hold, and for making a false statement to the CCRB.

We were able to secure JT a settlement for $135,000, and while we are happy that he can now begin to move past this event, it is troubling that this sort of conduct is continuing unabated. Perhaps the worst of Long’s misconduct is his lying. That is to say, the long history of police lying–long known as “testilying”–is still a too common event. Such fundamental dishonesty does a grave disservice to those officers who do not see the truth as an inconvenience to work around and infects the NYPD’s relationship with the communities it is supposed to serve and protect. There must be a greater commitment by the NYPD to punish those officers who lie casually and comfortably.