| On July 24, 2006, police in Camden, New Jersey, arrested 52-year-old Robert Henderson and charged him with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Henderson pled guilty to the charge in Camden County Superior Court on June 18, 2007, and received probation.
A few months later, on November 2, 2007, the same officers arrested Henderson again and charged him with three counts of possession of a controlled substance.
Henderson pled guilty to a single count on May 16, 2008, and again received probation.
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 Henderson’s convictions and dismissed his charges on December 18, 2009. Separately, Henderson was exonerated of a different drug crime on March 3, 2010. Including time in jail, Henderson was incarcerated for 37 months for the three crimes he didn’t commit.
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 Henderson 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, Henderson said Stetser and several of the other officers approached him and asked Henderson to provide information about the sale of drugs in the neighborhood. Henderson said in the lawsuit that he told the officers that he didn’t have any information to tell them, and he was then arrested.
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. Henderson did not receive state compensation.
– Ken Otterbourg
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