Man Jailed for 12 Years Brings $12M Wrongful Conviction Suit Against Milwaukee

A man who spent 12 years in prison for a homicide he didn’t commit has filed a $12 million federal lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee and four police officers.

The Journal Sentinel reported that Ladarious Marshall filed his lawsuit on Monday. Marshall was 16 when he was charged in 2008 in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Lavare Gould. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

A federal judge ruled in 2020 that detectives violated his rights by continuing to question him after he repeatedly invoked his right to remain silent and prosecutors dropped the case. The lawsuit alleges Marshall suffered from a learning disability during the questioning and police violated his constitutional rights to a lawyer, due process and against self-incrimination.

The Journal Sentinel reported that the city attorney’s office and the police department don’t comment on pending cases.