More Funding Needed To Defend Against Police-Related Lawsuit
Sam Hadaway was wrongfully imprisoned, city now spending repeatedly on outside attorney to defend against $7.5 million claim.
Milwaukee City Hall. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Drip, drip, drip, the City of Milwaukee keeps approving incremental cost increases for outside attorneys as a $7.5 million wrongful imprisonment claim looms.
Sam Hadaway, who was wrongfully imprisoned for a 1996 crime, is suing the city in federal court. Hadaway has since been exonerated for a robbery he previously confessed to committing. He alleges his confession, part of a murder investigation, was coerced by Milwaukee Police Department members. The plaintiff has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and brain damage.
In July it approved an additional $30,000.
Now it’s being asked to approve an additional $95,000, bringing the total to $155,000.
The Judiciary & Legislation Committee, which would review the request, next meets on Jan. 9.
The city’s contract calls for paying firm partners $250 per hour, billed in six-minute increments, associate attorneys $230 per hour and paralegals $100 per hour. The listed partner on the contract is firm co-founder Shneur Nathan. According to court records, the discovery process is to be completed this spring.
Nathan & Kamionski was hired in 2021 to represent the city, for up to $100,000 on a $12 million claim by Ladarius Marshall that his Miranda rights were violated by two detectives, resulting in a homicide conviction. That case is still ongoing.
The city, according to court records, had been represented on the Hadaway claim by many of its own attorneys, but few are still with the City Attorney’s Office and two have pending legal claims against Spencer and the city. Those that have represented the city since the claim was filed in 2019 include Naomi Gehling, Yolanda McGowan, Todd Farris, Jennifer DeMaster, Nicholas Zales and Robin A. Pederson. Hadaway is represented by the firm of Loevy & Loevy.
Law Enforcement personnel are professionals so they would benefit from individual or group malpractice insurance.
Individuals responsible for conduct resulting in costly malpractice payouts would pay more….those with no incidents would pay less.
Resultant costly lawsuits would be reduced to benefit all…including City of Milwaukee funds.
Qualified Immunity for Law Enforcement punishes Taxpayers instead of Perpetrators. Accountability & Justice would be served by Payment from the Police Pension Fund. Good Cops have nothing to worry about. Bad apples need to find another job.
Furthermore, it would:
1. Build Trust & Improve Community Relations.
2. End “Blue Code of Silence” (aka, Snitching).
https://madison365.com/new-dane-county-board-resolution-calls-for-stripping-law-enforcement-officers-of-qualified-immunity/
There is only one person responsible for this outside counsel fiasco – in this case, and all the others – City Attorney Tearman Spencer. He managed to get rid of the City’s experienced attorneys and they have uniformly said the same thing. His workplace is toxic.
No law firm would drive out its best attorneys and really on newbies. It would be out of business. But the City Attorney has managed to do what no law firm in the world would do – if it wanted to keep any clients.