Judge Tosses Washington Exoneree’s Jury Award

A case out of Washington proves how difficult it is for the wrongly convicted to bring successful civil lawsuits for police misconduct.

The Associated Press reported that a federal judge has thrown out a $9 million jury award in the case of a former Vancouver police officer who spent two decades behind bars after being wrongfully convicted of sexually abusing his children. Charges against Clyde Ray Spencer were vacated on appeal and dismissed in 2010, and he won a false imprisonment lawsuit last February,

paving the way for compensation

. But that was halted Wednesday when a judge said insufficient evidence was presented at trial that proved Spencer’s constitutional rights were violated and called for a second trial if Spencer still wanted to pursue the matter. His attorneys plan to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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