BALTIMORE (AP) - The Latest on settlements of police misconduct claims in Baltimore (all times local):
9:15 p.m.
A man who claimed that a police officer’s “hip throw” injured his knee is set to be paid $50,000 by Baltimore’s spending panel.
The Baltimore Sun reports the Board of Estimates is set to vote on the payment Wednesday, which would settle Matthew Fenderson’s lawsuit against the city.
City lawyers said Fenderson refused to identify himself when questioned by Officer Orlando Guerrero in a convenience store known for drug deals in 2016. They said the officer left, but Fenderson followed him, yelling expletives. Guerrero then threw him down and charged him with disorderly conduct.
The charges were dismissed and city lawyers recommended the settlement, citing video evidence and a witness prepared to testify the arrest was unwarranted.
The same panel may pay $9 million to a man who spent 20 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder. James Owens was cleared by DNA evidence more than a decade ago.
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8 a.m.
Baltimore may pay $9 million to a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 20 years in prison.
News outlets report officials say the settlement with James Owens would be the largest settlement from the city in an alleged police misconduct case. The settlement would come from Baltimore’s regular budget and is set to go before Baltimore’s spending panel Wednesday.
Owens was charged in the 1987 robbery, rape and murder of 24-year-old Collen Williar. Police found no physical evidence linking Owens to the crime, but charged him on the basis of a neighbor’s testimony. A neighbor had said he found a knife outside of Williar’s apartment and retrieved it on behalf of Owens.
Owens was cleared by DNA evidence more than a decade ago.
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