City to Pay $10 Million to Man Framed for Murder

By A.G. Sulzberger
Barry GibbsAndrea Mohin/The New York Times Barry Gibbs, flanked by his lawyers, Vanessa Potkin and Barry Scheck, after his conviction was overturned in 2005.

The city said it reached a $9.9 million settlement agreement on Thursday with a man who was released from prison nearly two decades after being framed for a murder he did not commit by a police officer who doubled as a mob hit man.

The payout to the man, Barry Gibbs, 61, would be the largest settlement the city has paid in response to a civil rights lawsuit, eclipsing the $8.75 million paid to Abner Louima in 2002, said Barry Scheck, who represented Mr. Gibbs.

The payout comes in addition to a $1.9 million wrongful conviction payment that Mr. Gibbs has already received from the state.

The settlement still requires approval from Judge I. Leo Glasser of United States District Court in Brooklyn.

The 1988 conviction of Mr. Gibbs for murdering a prostitute and dumping her body on the Belt Parkway was overturned in 2005, when his original case file was discovered in the Las Vegas apartment of Louis J. Eppolito.

Mr. Eppolito, now known as one of the two notorious “Mafia cops,” had led the investigation of Mr. Gibbs. Subsequent investigation revealed that a key witness said he had been told to lie by Mr. Eppolito. Mr. Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa were sentenced to life in prison in 2006.

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John H. June 3, 2010 · 1:15 pm

Louima hit the lottery. This guy, who spent almost 20 years locked up in jail, earned his payoff.

Red Gauntlet June 3, 2010 · 1:19 pm

Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld of the Innocence Project have done a lot of great work. Nice to see them get paid for it sometimes!

ACW June 3, 2010 · 1:27 pm

Can they give him back 20 years of his life? If I were Gibbs, I would want Eppolito’s head on a platter. Since that is impossible, a good hard kick in the city pocketbook is a weak second best, but it’s something.

Frank Miata June 3, 2010 · 1:31 pm

Interesting that being sexually violated and physically injured constitutes ” hit the lottery” for John H. Strange world Mr. H lives in.

Michelle June 3, 2010 · 1:32 pm

Hit the Lottery….Wow. Being sodomized with a foreign object in a bathroom for hours. Sounds fun.

r. auber June 3, 2010 · 1:33 pm

wait a second … Louima “hit the lottery” by being sodomized with a broken broomstick in the bathroom of a precinct by one cop while others guarded the door!?!?! You gotta be kidding me!

luvtoroam June 3, 2010 · 1:35 pm

Mr. Louima was brutally assaulted and raped, which in no way can be considered “hitting the lottery”.

One might hope that with soaring civil penalties, the NYPD will better select and train its officers to avoid these cases.

DocHolliday June 3, 2010 · 1:40 pm

I suppose justice was served, but Mr. Gibbs lost so much, perhaps no amount of money ever can make it right.

The police have the power of life, death and ruination.

Mark June 3, 2010 · 1:40 pm

I bet he’d rather have that 20 years back.

somerandomidiot. June 3, 2010 · 1:53 pm

those lawyers look happier than he does. i’m sure they’re going to be millionaires now if they weren’t already.

nr June 3, 2010 · 2:03 pm

Good for him!

Interesting how this story/Barry Scheck get no more airplay–then again the victim isn’t a Minority or Female (read: Minority Rights Groups/Women’s Rights groups can’t use it to further their PC agendas).

If Mr. Gibbs had been a Minority/Illegal Alien or Female-we’d be hearing about this case 24/7 for WEEKS!

Tony June 3, 2010 · 2:42 pm

Here’s to John H. hitting the lottery as Mr. Louima did. Cheers!

John H. June 3, 2010 · 4:07 pm

In response to those questioning my take on Louima’s big payday, I was suggesting that maybe — just maybe — nine million dollars was a million or two or three too many. For the record, his ordeal (and that is what it was, of course) was brief. Brutal, but brief — which is among the factors usually taken into consideration when calculating how much someone gets as a settlement. Politics more than the nature of the assault dictated the huge payout of taxpayer money in the Louima case. Maybe people suffer trauma at the hands of others (I was the victim of a nasty mugging some years back), but how many are thereby made rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Perley J. Thibodeau June 3, 2010 · 4:52 pm

Louima got the Eleven Million Dollar check endorsed by Hevesi because Hevesi wanted Louima’s endorsement for State Comptroller!
Hevesi got it and look what happened!

J June 3, 2010 · 5:42 pm

John H, I don’t think you are aware of the severity of the injuries Mr. Louima suffered. The broken plunger handle that was rammed into his rectum perforated several internal organs. The stick was then jammed into his mouth, breaking several teeth and damaging his esophogus. I believe some of those injuries resulted in permanent impairment. I don’t recall how long he was hospitalized or how many surgeries he underwent, but be assured that his ordeal was not brief.

Yes, many people undergo trauma, but not all traumas are equal. If the mugging you were subjected to resulted in the kind of damage that Abner Louima suffered, then I am truly sorry for you, and sincerely wish you the best.

Unknown Soldier June 3, 2010 · 7:58 pm

The NYPD needs a complete overhaul in its approach to police management

Keep the government out of Medicare! June 4, 2010 · 10:28 am

To #11, getting innocent people out of jail is PC, isn’t it? It’s pretty much a liberal cause. And yet, as you note, this case wasn’t plastered all over the news. Hmm… could it be that maybe, just maybe, the media isn’t as liberal as you think? Naw, no way.

The lesson of the Abner Louima case is, “all” you have to do is get brutally assaulted (necessitating months in the hospital) by cops even though you have no criminal history and didn’t commit a crime, and then go through the uncertainty of a criminal trial, and then go though the uncertainty of a civil suit, and then pay approximately a third of any settlement in lawyer’s fees. Not my kind of lottery, thank you very much.

Observer June 9, 2010 · 2:13 pm

So many people have been murdered by various states, esp Texas and Florida, for being judged guilty of capital crimes which they did not commit.

2o years is a terrible loss. The loss of a single life weighs more terribly on our “justice”.

The ones who will not be satisfied unless “murderers” are killed – may they never hit the “lottery” of being falsely accused.

You DO know it could happen to you too, yes?

Friday June 9, 2010 · 4:20 pm

Injustice is injustice. Are we really arguing over the value of pain and suffering? It’s bad enough we put a price tag on it.

johannesrolf April 19, 2011 · 4:26 pm

the NY police are ill trained, and like the dead fish it stinks from the head, as the police commish and the mayor.