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Domonique Moore and Cedric Warren Sue Kansas City, Kansas Police for Over 15 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment
Named defendants in federal lawsuits include the estate of notoriously corrupt Police Captain Roger Golubski, as well as police responsible for fabricating a false eyewitness identification and hiding evidence (KANSAS CITY, KANSAS) The national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF), and the local firm Morgan Pilate LLP and national firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP today filed wrongful conviction lawsuits on behalf of Domonique Moore, age 41, and Cedric Warren, age 35, who were imprisoned for a combined total of more than 31 years for a 2009 double homicide that they did not commit. Moore and Warren were released from prison late last year on December 11, 2024. They are not available for interview but have issued the following statements: Domonique Moore: “No one should have to endure what I went through. I’m so happy for my freedom, but I want justice and accountability for the more than 15 years that the police stole from me when they framed me. I also want to thank everyone who supported and helped me through the nightmare that was my wrongful conviction. I’m grateful to my lawyers, family members, and friends who have helped me along the way.” Cedric
NSBHF Partner Amelia Green Makes Bloomberg Law’s “They’ve Got Next: 40 Under 40” List
The 2024 honorees of “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40,” Bloomberg Law’s prestigious annual award recognizing the accomplishments of stellar young lawyers nationwide, this year includes NSBHF partner Amelia Green. The 40 awardees, according to executive editor Lisa Helem, “inspire their law firms, companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies to elevate, innovate and serve — not only clients but their communities beyond.” Green was one of seven attorneys selected under the Litigation category and the sole honoree specializing in civil rights. In an interview about her accomplishments, Green recalled a recent $12 million settlement for NSBHF client Lionel Rubalcava, an innocent man who spent 17 years wrongfully incarcerated after he was framed by San Jose, California police officers for a drive-by shooting. “The litigation was hard-fought and against a municipality that had a history of failing to acknowledge misconduct in its police department,” Green recalled. She went on to observe: “In our practice, the classic definition
San Jose Pays a Record $12 Million to Lionel Rubalcava, Declared Innocent After 17 Years Behind Bars
City Faced its First-Ever Wrongful Conviction Trial After Judge Rejected Attempt to Dismiss Rubalcava’s Claims Against Police (SAN JOSE, CA) The City of San Jose today is expected to approve a $12 million settlement in the wrongful conviction case of Lionel Rubalcava, a 46-year-old resident who was incarcerated 17 years for a drive-by shooting he did not commit based on flimsy witness identifications manufactured by police. He was exonerated in 2019. This is believed to be the largest police misconduct settlement in the city’s history, and the first in a wrongful conviction suit, according to Amelia Green, a partner with the national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger (NSBHF), which filed a lawsuit in 2020 on Mr. Rubalcava’s behalf. A trial in the case was scheduled to begin on August 5. “Given the clear evidence of serious police misconduct we would have put on at trial,
L.A. County Pays $24 Million to Wrongfully Convicted Teens
Two men who were wrongfully convicted of murder as teens in 1997 and exonerated after 23 years behind bars will share a $24 million settlement from Los Angeles County, The Los Angeles Times reported. “The lies behind John Klene and Ed Dumbrique’s decades-long wrongful imprisonment were exposed before their criminal trial began when a witness described how a Sheriff’s Department detective made up the evidence against them,” Klene and Dumbrique’s attorneys, Deirdre O’Connor and Nick Brustin said in a joint statement. “But the detectives lied again to cover up their misconduct, and the Sheriff’s Department let them. John and Ed are hopeful that the magnitude of this settlement leads to a careful evaluation of how many other wrongful convictions were caused by these same systemic failures.” They said Klene plans to use some of his settlement to help mentor at-risk youths, while Dumbrique intends to further his work on prison reform. “My time in
Wrongful conviction lawsuit for exonerated San Jose man heads toward trial
A wrongful conviction lawsuit from a man incarcerated 17 years for a San Jose drive-by shooting — based on flimsy witness identifications that were later recanted — has been allowed to proceed toward trial by a federal judge, according to the San Jose Mercury News. As reporter Robert Salonga recounts, “federal Judge Beth Labson Freeman allowed claims against three San Jose police officers at the time — Topui Fonua, Joe Perez and Steven Spillman — to head toward trial, rejecting city legal arguments to toss the lawsuit. Several other officers initially named in the lawsuit have since been dropped from the case, as was the city.” “I’m grateful the court has ruled that the police officers who put me behind bars for 17 years have to answer to a jury,” Rubalcava said in a statement Thursday. “The state declared my actual innocence in 2019, and now there’s no one but the officers whose
Terance Calhoun Files Federal Lawsuit Against Detroit Police Officers for Over 15-Year Wrongful Imprisonment
Police coerced a false confession and fabricated evidence, and then buried DNA evidence of innocence, leaving Calhoun wrongfully imprisoned for over 15 years. (DETROIT, MI) The national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF) and Detroit based law firm Goodman Hurwitz & James, P.C. (GHJ) filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Terance Calhoun for his over 15-year wrongful imprisonment. Calhoun, at only 19 years old and with obvious cognitive deficits, was coerced by Detroit police to falsely confess to crimes that he did not commit, and then police buried exculpatory forensic evidence, knowingly leaving an innocent man wrongfully imprisoned. “This is a case that truly shocks the conscience,” said Emma Freudenberger, a partner with NSBHF. “Police had definitive scientific evidence proving Terance Calhoun’s innocence, and deliberately hid it, choosing to let him suffer in prison rather than own up to their own misconduct.
Lamar Johnson, Whose Exoneration Raised a National Outcry, Sues St. Louis Police Officers Responsible for His Wrongful Conviction
Lawsuit seeks accountability for overwhelming evidence of police misconduct after St. Louis Circuit Court declared Johnson “factually innocent” (ST. LOUIS, MO) Today, the Kansas City law firm Morgan Pilate, LLC (Morgan Pilate) and the national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF) filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit on behalf of Lamar Johnson, who served 28 years of a life sentence for a murder he did not commit. “This lawsuit is about accountability,” said Emma Freudenberger, a partner with NSBHF. “The defendant officers framed a young man with his life ahead of him. Even after the Court declared his innocence, there have been no apologies and no consequences. The City of St. Louis cannot continue to simply ignore the glaring police misconduct that has caused Mr. Johnson and his family so much harm.” Johnson, a St. Louis native, was a young father who was working and
Maurice Hastings, Exonerated After 38 Years Behind Bars, Sues Inglewood Police Officers and LADA Investigator For Wrongful Conviction
Clear Signs Pointing to the Real Perpetrator Were Ignored by Police, Lawsuit Charges (LOS ANGELES, CA) National civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF) today filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit on behalf of Maurice Hastings, who served 38 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Earlier this year, a court ruled Mr. Hastings, 70, “factually innocent” after DNA evidence pointed to the real perpetrator. Emma Freudenberger, a partner with NSBHF, called Mr. Hastings’ case “a stunning example of the some of the worst consequences that can result from intentional police misconduct.” She added: “We look forward to exposing the breadth and scope of the wrongdoing that caused Maurice’s wrongful conviction and failed to protect the real perpetrator’s other victims.” The lawsuit seeks damages for Mr. Hastings’ 38 years of wrongful incarceration for the 1983 carjacking, rape, and murder of Roberta Wydermyer and
Los Angeles to Pay $8 Million to Ruben Martinez, Jr., Imprisoned 12 Years for Robberies He Didn’t Commit
Settlement Is One of the Largest Per-Year of Wrongful Incarceration in Los Angeles History (LOS ANGELES, CA) National civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP, with co-counsel Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Angela Berry and criminal defense and civil rights attorney Ian Wallach, today announced that Los Angeles has agreed to pay $8 million to their client Ruben Martinez and his wife Maria, in compensation for the 12 years Mr. Martinez spent behind bars for a series of robberies he did not commit. The extraordinary settlement—one of the largest per-year wrongful incarceration settlements ever paid by Los Angeles—recognizes not only the anguish Mr. Martinez and his family experienced throughout his wrongful imprisonment, but also the egregious police misconduct and missteps that came to light through discovery arising from the civil lawsuit. “Ruben Martinez was exonerated due to the heroic efforts of his wife Maria and his