by Christopher Zoukis

A man who was arrested by New York City police officers without probable cause or evidence, then maliciously prosecuted before the charges were dropped, was awarded $190,000 as a result of his federal civil rights lawsuit.

     On May 15, 2008, Joshua Marshall was leaving a drugstore near Broadway and Park Street when he was stopped by two NYPD officers. According to the officers, Marshall had robbed the store using a handgun. Marshall was searched and, despite finding no weapon or evidence of a crime, arrested and charged with possession of a firearm and possession of stolen property.

     Marshall was strip-searched and spent 135 days in jail because of what he alleged was false and misleading police reports and testimony. All of the charges were dropped after a year, on May 27, 2009.

     Marshall subsequently filed a civil rights complaint in federal court against NYPD officers Salim Randall and Michael Burbridge, along with the city of New York. Marshall argued that he was wrongfully apprehended and arrested and that the officers made up allegations against him. He maintained that the officers acted with malice in continuing with criminal proceedings despite having no evidence. The defendants contended that Marshall got rid of the evidence right before he was apprehended.

     Judge Jack B. Weinstein found in favor of Marshall, requiring each officer to pay him compensation of $95,000 each, totaling $190,000.

See: Marshall v. Randall, et al., United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Case No. 10-cv-02714 (June 6, 2012)

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