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Melvin McLean

Summary of Camden Misconduct
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On September 29, 2007, several police officers in Camden, New Jersey, arrested 42-year-old Melvin McLean and charged him with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Officer Antonio Figueroa said in his police report that he observed McLean complete what appeared to be a drug sale with an unknown person. The report said that the officers moved in to make an arrest. The unknown person ran away, and officers arrested McLean. They said they found 36 heat-sealed small bags containing a “white rock like substance” near a spot where McLean had gone prior to completing the alleged sale.

McLean pled guilty to the charge in Camden County Superior Court on November 14, 2007. Available records don’t indicate the sentence he received. It’s also not clear whether the material seized in the arrest was field-tested or analyzed in a laboratory.

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 –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 McLean’s conviction and dismissed his indictment on August 23, 2010, and McLean was released from prison.

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 McLean 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. McLean said in his lawsuit that Figueroa planted the drugs and falsified the arrest report.

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. Mclean received $52,249 in state compensation.

– Ken Otterbourg

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Posting Date: 8/29/2022
Last Updated: 8/29/2022
State:New Jersey
County:Camden
Most Serious Crime:Drug Possession or Sale
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:2007
Convicted:2007
Exonerated:2010
Sentence:Unknown
Race/Ethnicity:Black
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:42
Contributing Factors:Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No