Racial Animus, Police Corruption, and a Wrongful Conviction of Murder

Complex PTSD and the Vestiges of Anguish

Abstract

It is one thing to faithfully report and investigate police corruption; it is another thing to effectively punish abusive officers and the institutions that support them. A third, arguably the most fundamental concern of all, is to understand why these officers, and the infrastructures that protect them, rarely face repercussions for their crimes and the catastrophic psychological traumas that they inflict. The case described herein – a wrongful conviction of murder (1991) that was eventually overturned (2010) and then successfully litigated for restitution (2021) – provides a vivid narrative of prosecutorial misconduct, and the consequent psychological anguish of a survivor, as informed and articulated by participant-observers. Our hope is that by doing so, we can facilitate an understanding for, and empathy with, the trials and tribulations of victims of color who have suffered tremendously from police corruption and wrongful convictions.