Federal jury awards wrongfully convicted Baltimore man $15 million

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A federal jury awarded $15 million on Tuesday to a wrongfully convicted man in his lawsuit against the Baltimore Police Department and two detectives.

Sabein Burgess, now 47, spent nearly two decades in prison after being convicted in 1995 of killing his girlfriend, Michelle Dyson. He was sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison and released in 2015 after being exonerated.

Burgess’ lawyer, Jon Loevy, said the $15 million verdict is among the largest in the country for a wrongful conviction case.

City Solicitor Andre M. Davis said Wednesday the department will appeal the verdict.

In the civil trial, Burgess accused now-retired homicide detectives Gerald Goldstein and Steven Lehman of pinning the crime on him without pursuing other credible leads. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett granted a motion for judgment as a matter of law on all claims related to Lehman on Tuesday and several claims against Goldstein.

Jurors, at the end of a 10-day trial, found in Burgess’ favor on all claims submitted to them, including state and federal due process violations for withholding exculpatory information and fabricating a police report, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The lawsuit was originally filed against the city, Baltimore Police Department, multiple officers and a crime laboratory analyst. Burgess alleged the department has a policy and practice of conducting flawed investigations and in his case ignored exonerating evidence and failed to disclose it to prosecutors or the defense. Bennett dismissed the case against the city in 2016.

According to Burgess’ complaint, the officers involved in the investigation of Dyson’s murder knew he was innocent because Dyson’s son told them he saw someone who was not Burgess barge into their house right before his mother was shot and killed.

Burgess alleged the officers fabricated police reports stating that all four of Dyson’s children were asleep at the time of the shooting. The officers then conspired with a crime technician to fabricate gunshot residue evidence that would implicate Burgess in the crime, the suit states.

After a two-day trial, Burgess was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction was vacated in 2014, years after another man confessed to Dyson’s murder.

The case is Sabein Burgess v. Baltimore Police Department et al., 1:15-cv-00834-RDB.