A Philadelphia jury has awarded $10 million to a man who spent more than three years in jail after allegedly being falsely accused of shooting at a police officer.

On Thursday, after a three-day trial before Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Sean Kennedy, the 12-member jury presiding in Boozer v. Waltman awarded Khanefah Boozer $5 million in compensatory damages, as well as $5 million in punitive damages on wrongful arrest, imprisonment and prosecution claims.

According to Boozer's attorney Robert Levant, of counsel to Feldman, Shepherd, Wohlgelernter, Tanner, Weinstock, Dodig, the only defendant remaining at the time of trial was Police Officer Ryan Waltman, who allegedly falsely reported that Boozer fired a gun at him in early 2011.

During a press conference Thursday, Levant said that, while the case was the result of “a completely breakdown” of the process for investigating Boozer's case, the verdict sent a “loud, strong and clear message that change is necessary immediately in the Philadelphia Police Department.”

“Change comes about unfortunately sometimes slowly through the political process, and today 12 citizens from Philadelphia sent a message that I believe will bring change much faster,” Levant, who tried the case along with Philadelphia attorney Alan Tauber, said. “It's a message that should be heard loud and clear throughout Philadelphia.”

The jury, according to Levant, was made up of five black jurors and seven white jurors.

A spokesman for the Philadelphia city government said in an email, “We are examining all of our options at this time and plan to appeal.”

According to court papers, early in the morning of Jan. 22, 2011, Boozer was returning from a night out with several friends when one of his friends fired a handgun several times in the air. Boozer's settlement conference memo said this was done for “a drunken reckless thrill,” and noted that the incident occurred on Abbottsford Street in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.

Boozer, who is African-American, was 26 at the time and worked for Home Depot.

Three of Boozer's friends then walked into the nearby house of one of the friends, and Boozer said goodbye and drove away, the memo said. However, according to the memo, several police officers, who were handling a burglary case nearby, heard the shots and came to investigate.

The memo said two officers stopped Boozer's friends, but ultimately let them go, while another one stopped Boozer's vehicle. The memo said that after Waltman falsely claimed that he saw Boozer fire the gun at him, Boozer was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, violations of the Uniform Firearms Act and related offenses.

Boozer's bail was set at $500,000, which he was unable to pay, and he remained in jail until September 2014 after he was acquitted.

Boozer contended in the memo that the police chose to charge him because they could argue he was fleeing the scene in his vehicle, however, they never interviewed his friends, they never recovered a gun and found no forensic evidence to support Waltman's allegations. The memo further noted that Boozer's friend who shot the gun admitted to the shooting at trial that he, and not Boozer, had shot the gun in the air.

On Thursday, Levant noted that the verdict comes as a national conversation has begun to develop around criminal justice issues, and particularly police interactions with young black men.

One incident that recently sparked much debate occurred in April at a Starbucks in Center City Philadelphia when two black men were arrested while waiting to meet an acquaintance for a business meeting.

Levant said he did not think there was a direct connection between that high-profile incident and the verdict, although he said the Starbucks incident helped to more generally raise awareness about potential problems with the justice system.

“I really believe that this jury verdict was about the facts in this case because they were so egregious,” Levant said. “I think it's important that the conscience of our city and our nation is thinking about these matters.”

There wasn't any one piece of evidence that swayed the jury, Levant said, but added that Boozer's testimony was very credible and the jury clearly rejected Waltman's testimony.

According to Levant, Waltman maintained during the trial that Boozer shot at him, and that he did not falsely arrest him.

Waltman was represented by Matthew Kevin Hubbard of the Philadelphia Law Department.