| On April 19, 2007, police in Camden, New Jersey, arrested 47-year-old Paul Gibson and charged him with drug possession.
Gibson spent more than three months in jail and pled guilty to the charge on July 31, 2007. He was given probation and released to a halfway house, where he remained for six months.
On March 19, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice began bringing indictments against five Camden officers, charging them with a wide range of crimes and civil-rights violations, including planting evidence, falsification of reports, perjury and theft.
The indictments followed an investigation by the FBI into the department after the Camden County Office of the Public Defender asked the Camden police department’s Internal Affairs unit to examine complaints about officer misconduct more vigorously. In later litigation, plaintiffs alleged that the officers’ actions went undetected because of a breakdown in internal affairs, which was understaffed and used antiquated systems.
Three of the officers – Kevin Parry, Jason Stetser, and their supervisor, Dan Morris – pled guilty. The other two –Antonio Figueroa and Robert Bayard – went to trial. Figueroa was convicted; Bayard was acquitted.
Even before the first indictment against the officers, the Camden County Prosecutor had begun filing motions to vacate convictions and dismiss charges against defendants whose convictions were tainted by the apparent misconduct. Rather than waiting for individuals to come forward, the prosecutor’s office audited cases and then dismissed those that relied on the testimony or reports of the officers. As word of the dismissals spread, other potential victims of the officers’ misconduct came forward. Ultimately, judges threw out convictions and granted dismissals for more than 50 defendants.
A judge vacated Gibson’s conviction and dismissed his charge on January 26, 2010.
Following the indictments, defendants began filing lawsuits against the city and the officers for violations of their civil rights. The lead lawsuit was filed on July 29, 2010 by the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Joel Barnes. It was eventually joined with lawsuits filed in state and federal court by Gibson and 86 other persons, including several who were never convicted and had their charges dismissed after the misconduct by the officers was brought to light.
In his lawsuit, Gibson said he was walking home from his job as a janitor when Stetser, Morris, and another officer approached him and demanded that Gibson tell them about drug dealers in his neighborhood. Gibson said he didn’t associate with drug dealers and couldn’t help the officers. He said that Stetser then removed a baggie of narcotics from his pocket and said that if Gibson didn’t help the officers, they would make an example of him. Gibson repeated that he had no information, and the officers arrested him.
The lawsuits were settled on January 10, 2013, with the defendants sharing $3.5 million. Separately, 16 defendants also received compensation totaling $649,000 from the State of New Jersey for their wrongful convictions. Gibson was ineligible for compensation because he wasn’t imprisoned after his conviction.
– Ken Otterbourg
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