Named in 6 known lawsuits, $40,000,000 total settlements.
Morales, Cynthia vs City of New York, et al.
Case # 14CV02896,
U.S. District Court - Southern District NY, April 4, 2014, ended October 6, 2014
Zero Disposition
Complaint
Description: On December 13, 2012, Plaintiff’s father was released from prison after having been wrongfully convicted and serving over seventeen years. Plaintiff was 2 years old when he was accused, and had lived most of her life without a father present. Defendant Officers Thomas Aiello, Annabelle Nieves, Sean O’Toole, Robert Johnson and Nancy Killian are alleged to have hidden various pieces of evidence, disregarded other evidence, perjured their testimony and created false statements and evidence.
Ayers, Devon vs City of New York, et al.
Case # 14CV01655,
U.S. District Court - Southern District NY, March 19, 2014, ended April 18, 2016
$8,000,000 Settlement
Complaint
Description: On March 16, 1995 Plaintiff was arrested when he voluntarily surrendered at the 43rd Precinct in the Bronx after being informed the police were looking for him. He was one of seven defendants charged in two murder cases - the murder of Denise Raymond on January 17, 1995 and the murder of Baithe Diop on January 19th 1995. Plaintiff was tried for the murders and sentenced to 50 years to life. Plaintiff has always maintained his innocence. No physical evidence tied any of the defendants to either murder or to each other. The two detectives on the case Defendants Detective Donnelly and Detective Aiello coerced witnesses to testify against the plaintiff. They also withheld exculpatory evidence. Later the testimony ...
Cosme, Michael vs City of New York, et al.
Case # 14CV01653,
U.S. District Court - Southern District NY, March 13, 2014, ended April 21, 2016
$8,000,000 Settlement
Complaint
Description: On February 3, 1995, the Plaintiff was arrested, and then wrongly incarcerated on the false charges of two murders, that happened two days apart. 18 years later, the Plaintiff was exonerated.
Perez, Carlos vs City of New York, et al.
Case # 14CV01654,
U.S. District Court - Southern District NY, March 13, 2014, ended April 15, 2016
$8,000,000 Settlement
Complaint
Description: On February 10, 1995 Plaintiff was sitting on the stoop of his apartment building when he was swarmed by plainclothes police officers. Plaintiff was then arrested. He was initially told he was being arrested for bank robbery but was later told he was being arrested for murder. Plaintiff was accused of 2 murders, and convicted on March 5, 1997. This conviction was false. Plaintiff's convictions were ultimately vacated and he was released from prison on January 23, 2013.
Field, Eric A/k/a Glisson, Eric vs City of New York, et al.
Case # 14CV01378,
U.S. District Court - Southern District NY, March 5, 2014, ended April 21, 2016
$8,000,000 Settlement
Complaint
Description: On January 19, 1995, Baithe Diop, a livery [sic] cab driver was murdered by two passengers on Cross Ave. in the Bronx. In late January 1995 Miriam Taveras, a homeless woman, agreed to work with the police in exchange for housing for herself and her son. The meetings with the police involved Taveras, Hanley and Cathy Gomez (friends of Taveras's), and Detectives Michael Donnelly, Annabelle Nieves, and Thomas Aiello. The meetings took place at the end of January and continued through mid-February 1995.
In the meetings, the detectives (led by Michael Donnelly and including Nieves/Aiello) provided information to Cathy Gomez (16 years old), Hanley Gomez (14), and Taveras (known to use crack-cocaine) for the all...
Watkins, Cathy vs City of New York, et al.
Case # 14CV00887,
U.S. District Court - Southern District NY, March 5, 2014, ended April 25, 2016
$8,000,000 Settlement
Complaint
Description: On January 19, 1995 around 3:50AM, the New Harlem Car Service got a call from a woman at 30 W 141st St for a call to the Bronx. The dispatcher told police that she believed the voice to be of a woman named Yvette, though the caller didn't identify herself. Diop, a cab driver, was dispatched to the call and found dead around 4:30AM from two gunshot wounds in the Bronx. On January 21, 1995 around 7:25PM, the plaintiff Cathy Watkins called New Harlem Cab Service for a pickup at 30 W 141st St, an apartment complex with over 1,000 units, to go to her cousin's home. The dispatcher thought her voice sounded like "Yvette" and notified Defendant Donnelly. Watkins took the cab to her cousin's home and, once her cousin wa...