An American who was arrested by mistake was awarded $ 3,5 million compensation.

The police arrested the man at work in front of his colleagues, put him in jail and held him there for 15 days, believing that he was the same fugitive who had attempted murder.

Фото: Depositphotos

Six years later, 43-year-old Marvin Sylles from Harper Woods waited for compensation. In the Detroit Federal Courtroom after the 50 minute discussions, the jury awarded Silza $ 3.5 a million compensation for the injustice he felt as a result of a mistake.

The real criminal, whom the police were looking for, used the name Marvin Seals as a pseudonym, although the real Marvin Silas was instead arrested and held in prison, accusing him of attempted murder.

«Это была ошибка, которую можно было бы и следовало избегать», — заключили присяжные, поскольку они присудили самую высокую компенсацию по делу о незаконном аресте в истории штат Мичиган.

«Я не ожидал, что все будет так, — сказал Силз в интервью Free Press в субботнем интервью. — Я не ожидал ни суда, ни судьи, ни присяжных, я не думал, что кто-то мне поверит».

The man explained his position by the fact that from the very beginning no one believed him: neither the policemen who arrested him, nor the prison staff.

What went wrong

The city of Detroit and the Detroit police officer Thomas Zberkot, who conducted the arrest with a warrant and put him in prison, became defendants in the case.

The incident occurred in 2012, although the trial took years. The reason for the delay was the historic bankruptcy of Detroit.

18 January 2012 Marvin Seals worked at the Reinhart Food Service depot in Warren when a team of plain-clothes policemen appeared. Three officers approached him.

«Они спросили, знаю ли я, что это значит. Я сказал: «Что бы это ни было, я не тот парень». И они сказали: «Пойдем с нами», — вспоминал Силз, которого сопровождали офицеры, а его руководитель и коллеги смотрели на него. Он молчал, когда они уводили его.

«Я был слишком смущен», — вспоминал он.

Sylze quickly learned that the police were looking for a fugitive named Rodrik Siner, who was seeking an attempted murder. Siner used several pseudonyms, including Marvin Seals, although he didn’t look like Marvin Seals, who was arrested at the food warehouse, and his name didn’t have the letter “e”.

The city has long argued that officer Zberkot acted properly, noting that the police often deal with people who deny that they are not the people they are looking for. The “It's not me” position is very often found in police work, and Zbercoat had a probable reason to arrest Sils, citing information he had at the time.

The defense also claimed, though not successfully, that Silz never objected to his arrest, and the police inadvertently violated his constitutional rights.

Sylz repeatedly protested telling Zbercoat that he was not “Rodrik Siner” and that they had arrested the wrong one. He gave the police his wallet containing his photo card, his social security card and several credit cards in his name.

«Они сказали, что все мои документы могут быть поддельными», — вспоминал он.

Despite the protests, he remained in prison for two weeks.

«Я был очень напуган. Я никогда не был в тюрьме. Одна минута была похожа на час», — рассказывает Силз.

Two months after his release, Silz filed a lawsuit with the US District Court, alleging that his constitutional rights had been violated. At that time, he was the only breadwinner in a family with three children and paid a mortgage on a house in Harper Woods, where he moved from Detroit.

«Что, если бы я потерял работу? Я только что вывез свою семью из гетто в пригород. Я бы все потерял, — сказал он, отметив, что он находился в тюрьме за покушение на убийство. — Я бы не видел, как родился мой сын».

Although Sils was not sure how his civil suit would cost so much, other illegal arrests across the country show that jurors can be quite generous when it comes to awarding illegally accused persons.

In May, a jury of Philadelphia awarded 10 millions of dollars to a man who had been in prison for more than three years, where he got on the basis of a false testimony from a police officer who accused him of shooting a gun at another officer.

In December 2017, the city of Chicago agreed to pay almost 31 a million dollars to settle four people’s claims, each of whom spent nearly 15 years in prison for rape and murder, before DNA turned into a real killer.

In 2015, the city of Milwaukee agreed to pay 6,5 a million dollars to a person who served 13 years in prison for murder, which eventually denied the DNA test. The defendant claimed that police detectives put pressure on witnesses.

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