Boston Pays $12M To Settle Case Of Man Freed After Misconduct Boston agreed to pay $12 million to Shaun Jenkins, a Dorchester man who spent nearly 19 years behind bars for a 2001 killing he has always maintained he did not commit. The settlement, finalized in October 2024, was revealed through public records and recent media coverage, marking a significant resolution to a case that exposed systemic issues in the city’s law enforcement and prosecutorial practices. Jenkins was released from prison in 2021 after a judge overturned his 2005 murder conviction, citing widespread police and prosecutorial misconduct. The settlement, which was initially kept confidential, underscores the financial and reputational risks faced by Boston authorities when dealing with wrongful convictions. Jenkins’s attorneys, Nick Brustin and Katie McCarthy, emphasized that the city’s decision to settle rather than proceed to trial reflected its awareness of the potential for greater liability if the case had gone to court. “The City’s settlement demonstrates it knew it faced much greater liability if the case went to trial,” they stated, as reported by The Boston Globe. Despite the settlement, spokespeople for Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Police Department declined to comment on the matter. Jenkins’s conviction unraveled after newly surfaced evidence cast doubt on the prosecution’s case. In 2023, he filed a federal civil rights complaint naming several Boston detectives and alleging that they engaged in misconduct, including paying witnesses and concealing critical evidence. Court filings and investigative reports by WBUR detailed how the prosecution’s original theory linking Jenkins to the crime was undermined by undisclosed information.#boston_police_department #michelle_wu #shaun_jenkins #nick_brustin #katie_mccarthy
