Cleveland Men Reach $18 Million Settlement in Lawsuit against City of Cleveland and Former Detectives for Police Misconduct and Wrongful Imprisonment
Kwame Ajamu, Wiley Bridgeman, and Rickey Jackson, who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for a combined 100-plus years for a murder they did not commit, resolved their lawsuit against the City of Cleveland in an $18 million settlement agreement.
Background
Kwame Ajamu, formerly known as Ronnie Bridgeman, his older brother, Wiley Bridgeman, and their friend, Rickey Jackson, were just 17, 20, and 18 years old when they were accused and later convicted of the robbery and murder of Harold Franks in 1975. Their convictions hinged on the coerced testimony of a 12-year-old boy, Edward Vernon, and all three Cleveland men were sentenced to death.
In 1977, their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment after an appeals court ruled the jury had received incorrect instructions in their cases. A 2011 story in a local newspaper about the case cast doubts on the men’s guilt. Many years later, Vernon came forward to acknowledge that Cleveland police coerced him to testify falsely at the murder trial. After decades of fighting for their innocence, all three men were exonerated in 2014.
Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein began representing the Bridgeman brothers in 2014, working first to get them exonerated and later to reach the settlement for wrongful conviction and police misconduct. For the following six years, FG+G represented Ajamu and Bridgeman in civil litigation in two separate cases—one lawsuit sought to have the men declared to have been wrongfully imprisoned, while the second lawsuit sought vindication for violations of their civil rights during the events leading to their wrongful convictions.
Approach & Resolution
In December 2014, FG+G filed the first lawsuit on behalf of Ajamu and Bridgeman in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. This first suit sought a declaration of wrongful imprisonment from the Court, acknowledging that Kwame Ajamu and Wiley Bridgeman had been wrongfully imprisoned. In February 2015, the court granted that declaration. The State of Ohio subsequently settled Ajamu’s and Bridgeman’s Ohio law claims for wrongful imprisonment for $4,378,684, recognizing the years both men spent locked up in Ohio prisons for a crime they did not commit and compensating them for lost income during that time.
In the meantime, in July 2015, FG+G filed a second lawsuit on behalf of Kwame Ajamu and Wiley Bridgeman—this time, against the City of Cleveland and its police officers who committed civil rights violations against Bridgeman and Ajamu during the events that led to their wrongful convictions in 1975.
The City fought this case, and attempted in numerous ways to get the case dismissed over a several year period.
In 2017, the federal district court dismissed the lawsuit. But in March 2019, a federal appeals court reinstated most of the claims. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back down to the district court. The case was set to go to trial in summer 2020.
Facing the prospect of trial, the City of Cleveland settled Ajamu’s and Bridgeman’s civil rights lawsuit, along with the lawsuit filed by their friend and co-defendant Rickey Jackson, in May 2020 for $18 million. This settlement is believed to be the largest reached in the state of Ohio in a police misconduct case.
This lawsuit and settlement exposed the egregious misconduct by police who worked up the case, fabricated false evidence, withheld evidence of innocence, and then coerced Vernon into lying on the stand at trial. The settlement also marks the City of Cleveland’s failure to monitor and train rank and file police in the 1970s, reflected in the department’s widespread culture of racist policing and misconduct with impunity.
Kwame Ajamu cried when talking about the settlement at a news conference, saying: “We now know that you [City of Cleveland] have no other reason and no other recourse but to tell the world that you wronged three little black boys 45 years ago.” He said, “I guess I would say to the world, I am elated and very satisfied that this day has finally come. I have family, I have a wife to consider for the rest of my life to live in peace and harmony.”
This settlement allows Ajamu, now 62, Bridgeman, 65, and Jackson, 63, to close the chapter on their long fight for freedom and proving their innocence. They can now focus fully on building their lives and their relationships with family and friends in the present, without carrying the weight of the government’s false accusations against them.
“For 45 years, our clients never gave up hope that someday their nightmare would be over,” said Terry Gilbert, who, along with partner Jacqueline Greene and attorney David Mills, represented Ajamu and Bridgeman. “That time has come with this final resolution providing some measure of justice and closure. But the physical and emotional trauma our clients were forced to endure is an example of the deep flaws of a racist criminal legal system focused on results rather than truth and justice.”
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision issued in an earlier stage of litigation acknowledged this reality, citing the testimony of a retired Cleveland police commander, who testified, “Winning the case was what it was all about. It wasn’t about what was fair. It wasn’t about what was honest. It was about winning.”
Vernon’s decision to come forward about the police coercion cracked open this case. In their subsequent civil rights lawsuit against Cleveland and police who caused the wrongful convictions, Gilbert and Greene said a key to their clients’ victory was finding retired detectives who were around in 1975 and were willing to break the code of silence and reveal what happened back then.
Case News
Additional Coverage:
City of Cleveland to Pay $18 Million to Rickey Jackson, Wiley Bridgeman and Kwame Ajamu for Decades of Wrongful Imprisonment
Houston Style Magazine, May 26, 2020
3 Innocent Black Men Awarded $18 Million Settlement After Serving 39 Years in PrisonBlackNews.com, May 14, 2020
Three Black Men Awarded Largest Settlement In Ohio’s History For Wrongful ImprisonmentOcean Pop, May 14, 2020
Three Black Men Awarded Largest Settlement In Ohio’s History For Wrongful ImprisonmentBlack Entertainment Television, May 13, 2020
Ohio men awarded $18M after serving years in prison over deadly robberyTheGrio, May 13, 2020
3 Black Men Get $18 Million Settlement After Spending Nearly 40 Years in Prison for a Crime They Didn’t CommitThe Root, May 12, 2020
Cleveland To Pay $18M To Trio Who Spent Decades In Prison For 1975 Wrongful Murder ConvictionsMoguldom, May 11, 2020
Cleveland men reach $18 million settlement after being wrongfully convicted, spending years in prisonFox 8, May 8, 2020
3 Cleveland men wrongly convicted for a 1975 murder reach $18 million settlement with cityNews 5 Cleveland, May 08, 2020
3 men reach $18 million settlement with Cleveland for wrongful imprisonment in connection to 1975 murderCleveland 19 News, May 08, 2020
Wrongfully Convicted Trio Exonerated After 45 Years Reaches $18 Million Settlement With City of ClevelandCleveland Scene, May 08, 2020
Cleveland to pay $18 million to trio who spent decades in prison for wrongful 1975 murder convictionsCleveland.com, May 08, 2020