Trouble over wrongly convicted man's jury award?

The Lee's Summit Journal has news about Ted White Jr., a local man who was wrongly convicted of child molestation -- and who was awarded $16 million for his trouble. An appeals court on Tuesday denied an appeal from the police detective who worked on the case and was ordered to pay up. (That detective ended up marrying White's former wife.) Also, it sounds like the city of Lee's Summit doesn't want to pay any part of it now:

“It has been determined after an extensive review, that paying any damages in this case would be a violation of city ordinances,” said Mayor Randy Rhoads in Tuesday’s statement.

“Although the city signed an indemnification agreement in 2006, it was not known then that the jury would issue a verdict two years later that the defendants violated Mr. White’s constitutional rights.”

Comments

[Magik]

WOW! I'm going to have to call BS on this...For starters...The guy was wrongly convicted of a truly horrendous crime (as if that wasn't enough);Secondly, the d o u c h e bag detective married the mans former wife. He gets awarded money (which he most certainly deserved), now the City Of Lee's Summit doesn't want to pay?? The 'detective' should have to pay until the wrongly convicted man say's 'when'....Unbelievable.

[TAMMY]

ENOUGH is ENOUGH!!! Has anyone been held accountable for wrongfully committing a CRIME of falseley imprisoning a man and his family? It is disgusting how all the evidence and all the years of proof for innoncence and justice remains unaccountable for by the Detective & his whore wife, Police Department, Prosecutors, City of Lee's Summit and the Mayor. Good GOD!! It smells stinky dirty. I feel sorry for the WHITE FAMILY who remains penniless in Aurora Missouri because of POLITICS. I would say make the ante go up and keep making them accountable. NO ONE has yet!!!! The city council obviously were incompetent and didn't thoroughly read the case and were misinformed by their attorneys because THEY didn't think it would hold up in court. WOW, Lee's Summit you must have some REDNECKS on the council for not understanding what they signed and were being held accountable for!!! THIS IS UNFREAKIN BELIEVABLE........COLD HEARTED POLITICIANS in LEE'S SUMMIT.....HOPE THIS DOESN"T HAPPEN TO ANYONE IN YOUR FAMILY!! Oh, that's right....you would make sure someone would be held accountable if it happened to your family!!!

[Tȟatȟaŋka Wansila (One Bull)]

He should now sue the current city council members and mayor personally in civil court for this BS move.

That might provide some leverage with the city's pocket book.

City ordinance trumps court order.

Paper, rock, Scissors.

Please. (eye roll)

Can you spell stalling?

Never hold up and they know it.

[Magik]

This is infuriating! Lees Summit should be officially renamed to Whites Summit and Mr. White should be paid until further notice by this A $ $ Hole Detective, the dirty skank of an ex wife and The City Of Lees Summit for SURE. Period.

[Pat]

Why isnt the detective in jail?

After all, he broke the law.

[Jellybean]

Keep this in mind next time someone is accused the accusations look really squirrely. People will stop falsely accusing others of such crimes ONLY when there's some consequence for having done so.
It's not only destructive to the man accused, but to his family, AND to the kids who are goaded into supporting the accusations.
The black icing on the cake is that true victims are ignored, as false accusations are generally more sensational in nature. Why would an investigator listen to a little girl who's getting "touched" when some other is raving like Sybil?

[Keith G. in P.V.]

I'm infuriated by any governmental body that would say, "I don't have to pay because I made a rule that says so."

This is such deep bullshiite that the Mayor, police department and its legal advisors, employed or contracted, should be forced to stand on their heads in the stuff they put out. Totally disgusting.

[Searching]

Someone should tell council members that ignorance of the law is no excuse. :)

[Magik]

Better yet..Slam each one of those political losers with a molestation charge...Convict them, send them to prison for as long as Mr. White had to stay there.

[Obama is the man]

Lee's Summit PD made a serious mistake and now the Mayor Rhoads and his fellow Yuppies are trying to disallow the verdict. Mayor Rhoads has forgotten that the Court trumps the City.

The former Police Chief and detective should be held accountable. Perhaps their cushy pensions should be tapped.

[Joe S. TheRagMan]

Searching - Isn't that just what the cops and prosecutors tell the accused??? "Ignorance of the law is NO excuse."

I have it on good authority that for the past two years, the City of Lee's Summit has been tightly rationing raises for all employees, specifically because of this case. They figured out McKinley (the dirty cop) screwed up. That's why they FIRED HIS A$$... They've known that the city was going to have to pay.

The guy was railroaded in a sham investigation and tried in a kangaroo court.

Mr. White should get his money. And it should help that every month that the bill isn't paid, interest accrues....

Lee's Summit - your property tax rate is amongst the highest in the area, yet Crimedotte has more business and better attractions... Seems kinda jacked up that your people screwed this guy over and now you're wanting to screw him over worse. Pay the man.

Thanks to YOU (ultimately responsible for your officer's actions), he was forced to earn it the hard way! Give the man his money.

[KC Cicero]

If the citizens of Lee's Summit had to foot this bill, they would take seriously the duty to control their police department.

Any citizen's first defense against the loss of liberty is supposed to be a police department that fairly and accurately investigates whether a crime has occurred, and then who may be responsible -- not just build a case, regardless of truth.

The next line of defense is the prosecutors -- who are supposed to file only cases with merit -- and not those that are so clearly phonied up as to be embarrassing to any first year law student. For good or ill, the County is immune in this. If the taxpayers of jackson County had to ante up, it might result in some stricter requirement for filing these kinds of cases.

It is as much the duty of the police and prosecutors to protect the innocent as to prosecute the guilty. How do we incentivize that?

[FanDanGo]

Was the city initially named in the lawsuit? If so and if the judgment included the city, then all the city ordinances in the world won't help them.

[Marvin]

I hope the city has to cut services to pay this judgment and the locals take it out on everyone involved in this debacle.

[KCResident]

Lee's Pit railroaded Ted White Jr., all on false accusations. Mr. White Jr. proved in court that Lee's Pit, Richard McKinley, and the "now" Mrs. Tina McKinley, at least, had engaged in a conspiracy to violate Mr. White Jr.'s fair-trial rights. Lee's Pit knowingly and willingly entered into a pretrial agreement that "holds the city responsible for actual damages, less any amount White collects from insurance companies."

Now we have Lee's Pit trying to claim that a city ordinance prevents them from paying their part of the pretrial agreement, because they did not know "that the jury would a issue a verdict two years later that the defendants violated Mr. White’s constitutional rights.” That is a mockery of our jury system. I do believe that the purpose of the jury trial, that Lee's Pit demanded, was so that a jury of citizens could take an unbiased look at the evidence presented. That Lee's Pit does not like the outcome, is irrelevant. Just like any other litigant, Lee's Pit needs to take their punishment.

I believe that Lee's Pit knew that they had loopholes in the agreement that they could attempt to scurry into, if they lost. I am willing to bet that there are many other loopholes in that agreement that Lee's Pit lawyers' know about and are ready to use. Just one problem here for Lee's Pit; the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered McKinley, which Lee's Pit indemnified, to pay the damages as awarded, and that court is a higher authority than any city ordinance.

Now, Lee's Pit will probably force Mr. White Jr. to bring action against Lee's Pit to force an innocent man to fight for his rights, yet again, and to force Lee's Pit to be held to their indemnification agreement. I won't be surprised if Lee's Pit tries to take this all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. What a travesty of justice.

[KCResident]

"Why isnt the detective in jail?

After all, he broke the law."

- Posted by: Pat

Pat, to charge and convict McKinley would be tantamount to an admission of guilt, therefore, Lee's Pit is going to let McKinley run free, unless Lee's Pit finds an economic incentive to do otherwise.

[eephus]

I don't live in the KC area, but this is a common tactic among governments at all levels everywhere. This guy was horribly treated, falsely accused, unjustly incarcerated, and he won a very justifiable judgment. So...the city keeps stalling, knowing that they have almost unlimited legal resources compared to his. They just want to make him give up. I hope a judge takes the city to the woodshed and administers a severe and well-deserved beating.

[Marvin]

eephus,

Yup, remember that Samoan family that cops lied on saying they were rioting and throwing rocks and bottles? They ended up waiting 10+ years for their settlement, but they got interest on it.

[GC Friend]

I personally know Ted and he has been through more than anyone should ever have to in a life time. The city of Lee Summit should just admit there was a mistake and pay the man. They are just stalling. There is going to be a gathering next week in front of Lee Summit City Hall is anyone is interested. Watch for details.

[Mike]

Why isn't McKinley in jail ? Why haven't the corrupt Jackson County prosecutors been disciplined ? Personally, I think $16MM is not enough. It seems to me the members of the city council are now personally liable. What a bunch of Rubes. I'll be at tomorrow's meeting.

[John]

This is the most bias article i have ever seen and all these people calling people names when they havnt even heard the other side of the story. So when everyone hears this cop did this and this cop did that there like oh my god i must believe it b/c everything that everyone says is true maybe you should think before you just startt writing about something you know nothing about.