PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia man locked up for more than three years based on a police officer’s false testimony has been awarded $10 million.
Khanefah Boozer
The jury’s verdict Thursday was handed down in the case of Khanefah Boozer, a 33-year-old man who languished in jail on $500,000 bail while he awaited trial for allegedly firing a gun at Officer Ryan Waltman in 2011.
When he finally went to trial in 2014, another man testified that he, not Boozer, fired the gun in the air, not at the officer.
In Boozer’s suit, he says he told police that very detail on the night of his arrest, but it was never investigated.
Boozer’s mother and sister passed away while he was in jail.
Lawyers for the city say Waltman made an honest mistake. The city says it may appeal.
Waltman remains on the force.
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