Marcel Brown, who served almost ten years in prison after being falsely convicted of murder, has been awarded $50 million in damages by a US jury.
According to his legal company, Loevy & Loevy, the decision rendered by a federal jury in Chicago on Monday represents the most reward ever given to a single victim of wrongful conviction in US history.
Brown, 34, was found guilty in 2008 of being an accomplice in the murder of a 19-year-old male, and he was initially given a 35-year prison sentence.
But in 2018, fresh evidence showed that his confession had been obtained unlawfully, which resulted in the case being dismissed.
According to Loevy & Loevy, Brown was interrogated for more than 30 hours by Chicago police officers during which he was denied access to food, sleep, or a phone.
These severe circumstances, which were ultimately determined to be unfair and coercive, were used to get the confession.
The law firm said that Brown was “locked in an interrogation room by Chicago police officers for more than thirty hours, subjected to harsh interrogation, denied food, and prevented from sleeping.”
Following a two-week trial, the jury concluded in unison that Brown had been falsely accused by the police and that they had coerced his statement.
The jury gave Brown $40 million for the effects of his imprisonment and the time it took him to get out of prison, as well as $10 million in compensatory damages for the time between his arrest and conviction.
According to Brown’s attorneys, “justice was finally served for me and my family today” when he was outside the court.
