Case Results

In October of 2012, Louisville Metro Government agreed to pay Edwin Chandler $8.5 million for his wrongful arrest on charges of murder and robbery and his serving 9 years in prison for crimes that he did not commit. This settlement is one of the largest ever paid by a government agency in Kentucky for a civil rights violation. Mr. Chandler’s unjust conviction in 1993 was the result of a false, coerced and fabricated confession to a convenience store robbery that resulted in the killing of a store clerk. When a fingerprint left at the scene of the crime by the perpetrator was retested using advanced scientific techniques, it was determined that another person with a bad criminal history actually committed the crime. The scientific evidence proved that our client was innocent and similarly proved that the police concealed evidence of Mr. Chandler’s innocence and covered up repeated misconduct by the lead police investigator of the case. Larry Simon co-counseled with Nick Brustin of New York and Margaret O’Donnell of Frankfort. Edwin Chandler, Sr. v. Louisville Jefferson County Metro Government, U.S. District Court (Western District of Kentucky) Civil Action No. 3:10-CV-470.

In 2006, the City of Louisville and the Kentucky State Police agreed to pay William Gregory a combined total of $4.6 million dollars for his wrongful conviction for burglaries and sexual assaults that he did not commit. Mr. Gregory’s unjust conviction in 1993 was the result of multiple law enforcement failures by both the Louisville Division of Police and a technician of the Kentucky State Police Crime Laboratory. Mr. Gregory was the first person in Kentucky exonerated by DNA test results, which conclusively demonstrated his innocence through the scientific examination of forensic evidence in his case. The litigation of this lawsuit before it was settled showed that both the police department and the crime laboratory failed to provide adequate supervision and training. Individual police officers fabricated evidence against our client and engaged in conduct that would have shocked the conscience of any jury, prompting the significant settlement value of the case. Larry Simon co-counseled with Barry Scheck, Nick Brustin and Debi Cornwall of New York. William Thomas Gregory v. City of Louisville, et al., U.S. District Court (Western District of Kentucky) Civil Action No. 3:01-CV-535-R; U.S. Court of Appeals (Sixth Circuit) File Nos. 04-5856; 5859; 6482.

In the Spring of 2014, four young African-American men were arrested for an armed robbery and other felony assaults associated with a night of mob violence in downtown Louisville. Officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department totally ignored their department’s own policies and procedures for conducting non-suggestive eyewitness identifications and committed other blunders in their investigation of these offenses, which resulted in the wrongful arrests of these upstanding clients. Metro Government settled before a lawsuit was filed for $1,500,000. Larry Simon co-counseled with Nick Brustin of New York, Alphonse and Adam Gerhardstein of Cincinnati and Jan Waddell.

For a period of months in 2018, eight female inmates held in the Larue County Detention Center in Hodgenville were subjected to rape, sodomy, sexual abuse or harassment by deputy jailer Jerome Perry, a sexual predator. The litigation of this lawsuit before it was settled demonstrated that other deputies knew about Perry’s conduct and did nothing to stop it. The jail’s supervisors failed to monitor the surveillance equipment and properly train the jail’s staff, which allowed the criminal conduct of the deputy to continue. Jerome Perry was convicted of 5 felony sex offenses and will be required to register as a Sex Offender when he is released. These courageous women obtained a total settlement of $1.1 million and overcame the emotional distress of being victimized as prisoners. Each of our clients ultimately succeeded in their collective challenge to the unconstitutional conditions of their confinement. Larry Simon co-counseled with Alphonse Gerhardstein of Cincinnati along with the assistance of Attorney Maureen Sullivan of Louisville. Jane Doe #1, et al. v. Jerome Perry, et al., U.S. District Court (Western District of Kentucky) Civil Action No. 3:19-CV-142.