Winston & Strawn Helps Improperly Jailed Client Obtain Justice

Following a federal trial, which resulted in a hung jury, Winston & Strawn secured a favorable settlement for our client who had been incarcerated in harsh conditions for three months before charges of being an accessory to murder were dropped for lack of evidence.

During the three months that our client was in jail, law enforcement was always in possession of key evidence that exonerated him. Moreover, not only did authorities fail to disclose this evidence, but they also affirmatively misrepresented the substantive nature of the evidence in the arrest warrant.

After being released from jail, our client filed a pro se lawsuit for false arrest. Winston attorneys, while in court on an unrelated matter, heard him argue against a motion to dismiss. The judge hearing the matter said she believed our client might have a claim, but that he really needed to obtain a lawyer. After reviewing court records, Winston & Strawn offered to represent him as part of the firm’s Pro Bono Racial Justice & Equity CEASE Initiative.

The Winston team took the position that the police conduct amounted to multiple deprivations of our client’s constitutional rights. Along the path to trial and eventual settlement, Winston secured a favorable summary judgment ruling that cements precedent on the constitutional doctrines of Fourth Amendment probable cause, Fourteenth Amendment due process, and qualified immunity.

This case reached its climax with a trial in the Northern District of California, before an in-person, eight-member jury. The trial was resolved with a jury that was hung on whether the police misrepresentations were intentional, reckless, or merely negligent. After reaching a strategically advantageous position following the trial, the case came to its ultimate conclusion with Winston securing a significant settlement for our client.

“This case really makes a strong statement for the importance of pro bono matters for fostering justice. Our client’s case would likely have been dismissed on procedural grounds if we had not taken the case. Instead, our client received a life-changing settlement payment and was able to hear a United States District Judge sternly admonish the police in open court for misleading the court and warned that such behavior must stop,” said Los Angeles Partner David Enzminger.

The Winston team that secured this settlement includes Los Angeles Partner David Enzminger; New York Partner Krishnan Padmanabhan; and Los Angeles Associates Nikki Khorram and Janelle Li-A-Ping.

Learn more about Winston’s commitment to excellence in serving the public interest and our Racial Justice & Equity CEASE Initiative.

From left: our client, former San Francisco Associate, and our client’s uncle.