CNS has successfully represented numerous victims of police and other forms of official misconduct in state and federal courts throughout the country.   These cases have led to significant systemic reforms in police departments nationwide and numerous large monetary settlements for our clients.  CNS clients who have been subjected to official misconduct include: 

CNS CASES INCLUDE

• Abner Louima
  Abner Louima, a Haitian man who was tortured by NYPD officers, and whose lawsuit resulted in a settlement with the City of New York and the Police Officer’s Union. The Louima case is believed to be the first case in which a police officers' union contributed to a civil rights settlement. As a result of our representation of Mr. Louima, the NYPD and the Police Union also implemented a number of structural reforms to reduce the dangers of police cover-ups.
  See Press
  
  
• Danny Reyes and Jarmaine Grant
  Danny Reyes and Jarmaine Grant, 2 of 4 African-American and Hispanic athletes, who were racially profiled and then shot by New Jersey State Troopers and whose lawsuit resulted in a historic settlement which served as a lightning rod for taking steps towards eliminating racial profiling in New Jersey and nationwide.
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• Larry Mayes
  Larry Mayes, an African-American man spent more than 18 years in prison as a result of intentional and systemic misconduct by Hammond, Indiana police officers before DNA testing exonerated him. In 2006, CNS obtained a jury verdict in federal court in Indiana on behalf of Mr. Mayes against the Captain of Detectives and the City of Hammond.
  See Press
  
  
• Earl Washington, Jr.
  Earl Washington, Jr., a mentally retarded man who spent 9 1/2 years on death row as a result of intentional police misconduct before DNA testing exonerated him. In 2006, CNS won a jury verdict in federal court in Virginia on behalf of Mr. Washington against the State Police detective who fabricated evidence against him. The case settled after trial and as a direct result of this litigation, errors in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s DNA lab were exposed, leading Governor Mark Warner to order an audit of its work.
  See Press: AP, Cvile, Washington Post
  
  
• African American New Jersey State Troopers (NJ4)
  A group of African-American New Jersey State Troopers who were subjected to racial discrimination in promotions and assignments and retaliation for their refusal to engage in the illegal racial profiling practiced by the State Police.
  
  
• Herman Atkins
  Herman Atkins, an African-American man who spent more than eight years in prison as a result of intentional police misconduct before DNA evidence exonerated him. In 2007, CNS obtained a jury verdict in federal court in Los Angeles against the Riverside County Investigator who fabricated evidence against him.
  See Press
  
  
• Thomas Pizzuto
  The family of Thomas Pizzuto, who was beaten to death by prison guards while incarcerated at the Nassau County Correction Center. The Pizzuto case settled just before trial and after CNS obtained a precedent setting legal ruling from the federal district court in Brooklyn.
  See Press
  
  
• Alfred Nelson
  The family of Alfred Nelson, an African-American, mentally disabled man, who was choked to death by New York City Police Department Officers and Hospital personnel. Mr. Nelson’s case settled before trial.
  
  
• Michael Green
  Michael Green, an African-American man who was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for 13 years for a rape he did not commit and whose lawsuit resulted in a financial settlement against the State of Ohio and the City of Cleveland and a comprehensive audit of Cleveland’s crime lab, “The Michael Green Audit.”
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• Leslie Prater
  The family of Leslie Prater, an African-American man who was suffocated by a group of Chattanooga, Tennessee police officers who had been called to assist him. Mr. Prater’s case settled before trial and in addition to a financial settlement included substantial injunctive relief including a comprehensive audit of the Internal Affairs Bureau and comprehensive training to avoid death by positional asphyxia.
  See Press
  
  
• John Henderson
  The family of John Henderson, an African-American man who was fatally shot by a white Chattanooga, Tennessee police officer during a traffic stop while reaching for his registration. His case settled before trial.
  
  
• Eddie Joe Lloyd
  The family of Eddie Joe Lloyd, an African-American man who spent more than 17 years in prison as a result of a coerced and fabricated confession by Detroit Police Department Detectives before DNA evidence exonerated him. Mr. Lloyd’s case settled before trial and in addition to a financial settlement included substantial injunctive relief including the City’s agreement to videotape all serious felony interrogations going forward.
  See Press
  
  
• Kenneth Hood
  Kenneth Hood, an African-American New York City Police Officer, who was severely injured during an on-duty car accident. Mr. Hood’s case settled during the middle of his Staten Island jury trial.
  
  
• Eric Sarsfield
  Eric Sarsfield spent more than 10 years in prison as a result of individual and systemic police misconduct in Marlborough Massachusetts before DNA evidence exonerated him. CNS obtained a partial settlement as well as a multi-million dollar verdict on Mr. Sarsfield’s behalf.
  
  
• Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson
  Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson, who were wrongly convicted of a rape-murder they did not commit in Ada, Oklahoma as a result of widespread police misconduct. Their lawsuits were settled before trial and the story of their struggles and the efforts of their attorneys (including CNS attorney Barry Scheck) were chronicled in John Grisham’s book, An Innocent Man.
  
  
• William Gregory
  William Gregory, an African-American man, who spent more than seven years in prison as a result of misconduct by numerous Louisville Police Department and Kentucky State Police employees before DNA evidence exonerated him. CNS obtained a settlement on behalf for Mr. Gregory before trial and after obtaining a precedent-setting legal ruling in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
  See Press: Courier-Journal