Ricky Kidd receives $14 million settlement in wrongful conviction case against Kansas City, Missouri detectives

(KANSAS CITY, MO) The Kansas City, Missouri Board of Police Commissioners on April 29th, 2025 approved a $14 million settlement in the wrongful conviction case of Ricky Kidd, who spent over 23 years wrongfully incarcerated for a 1996 double homicide he did not commit. Mr. Kidd was exonerated in 2019.

In 2021, the law firms of Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP and Lathrop GPM LLP filed a lawsuit on Mr. Kidd’s behalf against the Kansas City, Missouri Board of Police Commissioners and former Kansas City Police Department detectives alleging violations of Mr. Kidd’s constitutional rights during the 1996 homicide investigation. In December 2024, the federal district court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment and ruled that Mr. Kidd’s claims against the detectives would proceed to trial.

“This 14 million dollar settlement speaks unequivocally to Mr. Kidd’s innocence, and to his unwavering perseverance, dignity, and strength in the face of tremendous suffering during 23 years of wrongful imprisonment,” said Amelia Green, a partner with the national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP.

Mr. Kidd’s legal team includes partners Nick Brustin, Anna Benvenutti Hoffmann, and Amelia Green, attorneys Tony Balkissoon and Grace Paras, and paralegal Jackie Ochoa Acevedo of Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP; and partner Michael Abrams, attorney Alana McMullin, and paralegal Melissa Love of Lathrop GPM LLP.