LA to pay $12M in wrongful-conviction case against detective

By iNFOTEL
March 27 2019 10:04 PM

CP1671495996 — FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2014 file photo, Susan Mellen sits in Torrance Superior Court in Torrance, Calif. The Los Angeles City Council has agreed on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, to pay 2 million to Mellen who spent 17 years in prison on a murder conviction before a judge declared her innocent. After being exonerated and released in 2014, she sued former LA Police Department detective Marcella Winn. (Brad Graverson/The Orange County Register via AP, File)

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles City Council has agreed to pay $12 million to a woman who spent 17 years in prison on a murder conviction before a judge declared her innocent.

Susan Mellen was convicted of the 1997 beating death of a homeless man. After being exonerated and released in 2014, she sued former LA Police Department detective Marcella Winn. The lawsuit contended the detective had been told a witness against Mellen was “a habitual liar,” but failed to disclose that to the defence.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously last August that the suit against Winn should go to trial.

Winn and Mellen could not be immediately reached for comment about this week’s settlement.

The Los Angeles Times says Wednesday that the LAPD declined to comment.

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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/

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