Brownsville jury awards $2M to man wrongfully convicted

[TexasTowelie]

A federal jury on Tuesday awarded $2 million in damages to a Brownsville man wrongfully convicted of assaulting a public servant.

George Alvarez sought compensation for damages he suffered from the Brownsville Police Department after he served four years of eight-year sentence for a conviction of which he was later found innocent.

Alvarez’s civil rights violation trial began on Monday with the jury issuing its verdict against the city on Tuesday. The case was being tried before senior U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle.

The lawsuit names the city of Brownsville, former police chief Carlos Garcia, jailer Jesus Arias, Sgt. David Infante, Lt. Henry Etheridge, and former Cmdr. Robert Avita as defendants.

Alvarez, who was 17 on Nov. 27, 2005 — the date of the assault — was arrested for suspicion of burglary of a motor vehicle and detained in the Brownsville city jail.

Read more: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_89ae1904-38aa-11e4-a122-0017a43b2370.html

[napi21]

1. So, what happened to the jailers? I'm sure the city will appeal.

I hope Mr. Alvarez wins! I lived in San Antonio for 9 years, and even though there are lots of Hispanics in law enforcement, and the govt, there's still a lot of discrimination. I don't know much about Brownsville, other than it's a border town.