Very possible & likely....but $18,000,000 for what damages????
I agree that the $18M is excessive, but he did go through a trial, public humiliation, loss of job, presumed guilt no matter what, inability to find another job teaching again, etc.
How about ruining someone's good name and reputation??? Guaranteed, this man's in a LOT of computer databases as a crook, and he will be busy for a long time just trying to clear THAT up...to say nothing of his standing in the community!
Try and account for that period of time on your resume.
Q: Mr. Ramirez, I noticed a gap on your resume. Could you explain this?
A: Yes, Sir. I was falsely accused of raping a sixteen year old girl after kidnapping her at gunpoint. During the time in question, I was an involuntary guest at the state correctional facility.
He can also use the guys on his old cell block as references.
I can never understand the outrage at the huge money settlements for damages issuing from people like you.
You know there is little correspondence between judgements
and their $$ awards and what the complainant actually gets, and WHEN and HOW he gets it. Even if he were to receice a lump sum tomorrow, I say good for him, and good for the collective taxpayers that in effect fund the payout, becuase, for all they know, it could be them next time and not Raul Ramirez this time. Enough of these hotdog prosecutors out to build a reputation for themselves on the backs of innocent citizens, and maybe the voters will think twice about putting certain people in office, who appoint certain other people. The beat goes on though, and this stuff happens in every big and small city and town eventually. If this happened in New Jersey where I live , I would have no problem , knowing that, oh, I dunno, maybe ten dollars of my property tax $$ went to pay the damages suffered by ANYONE falsely accused. PRECISELY BECAUSE IT COULD HAVE BEEN ME. And if continuing big money settlements "bankrupt" the Police Departments, it is THEY who should think twice and three times about what kinds of priorities they should have , and what they need to do to preserve the public trust, NOT US
And I HAVE been involved in campaigns to get innocent people out of jail , yes, Death Row, and there is NOTHING WORSE than being accused of a crime you did not commit, let alone spending years on Death Row as an innocent man .Ever hear of Randall Adams?
He wasn't cleared quickly of the false accusation because the detective hid evidence.
He likely lost his job, was likely held in prison until the trial, and will still have people questioning if he really did it just because of the seriousness of the charge for the rest of his life.
He was cleared of the criminal charges, but do you really think he's going to have an easy time finding another job as a school teacher?
Yes, $18 million sounds awfully high. I suspect it's so high because the LA Sheriff's department has a long history of misbehaving and poor police work.
Why not. The plaintiff is a minority and the jury probably was too