A federal judge has thrown out the verdict in a police brutality case because the plaintiff promised to give his girlfriend a percentage of any winnings if she testified for him. Sean Thomas said that after three New York City Police Department officials responded to a report of a domestic dispute at his Bronx apartment and arrested him, he was wrapped in a restraint blanket, strapped to a stretcher and transported to a hospital for a psychiatric review and involuntarily sedated. He was never charged with any crime and filed a civil rights suit containing claims of false arrest and excessive force.
A jury in Thomas v. City of New York, 09 Civ. 3162, awarded Thomas $450,000 in damages thanks in part to the testimony of his then-girlfriend Letitia Marrow, who described the police actions she purportedly witnessed. But Southern District Judge Andrew Carter (See Profile) said the ink on his damages order was "barely dry" when one of Thomas’ attorneys informed the court that he had learned Thomas had signed an agreement promising Marrow one-fifth of any damages he received if he won an award. The agreement was signed and notarized on June 30, 2012, three days before she testified at trial but hidden from the defense.
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