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Jury Awards $60 Million to Man Wrongly Charged in Sexual Abuse Case

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

A Michigan man, Sean MacMaster, was awarded nearly $60 million by a jury who found that a disgraced prosecutor, Brian Kolodziej, and a police officer, Lt. David Busacca, acted with "reckless disregard" in pursuing charges against him. MacMaster was wrongly accused of sexual abuse in 2019, a charge that was ultimately dropped by the state attorney general. The jury's verdict is a rare case of a prosecutor being successfully sued for their actions, due to broad immunity protections in law.

Key Takeaways:

  • The jury awarded $33 million in lost wages, pain and suffering, and damage to MacMaster's reputation, and an additional $25 million in punitive damages.
  • Kolodziej, a former Michigan assistant attorney general, had his law license surrendered and pleaded no contest to willful neglect of duty after being involved in a romantic relationship with a woman in a sexual assault case.
  • MacMaster's lawyers argued that Kolodziej pursued the sex charges against him to impress and get close to a woman related to MacMaster's former wife, who were in a contentious child custody battle.
  • MacMaster was in solitary confinement in jail for months before charges against him were dropped, citing "serious violations of our prosecutorial standards."
  • The jury found that Kolodziej and Busacca acted intentionally, deliberately, or with reckless disregard for the truth in pursuing the charges against MacMaster.
  • Kolodziej and Busacca declined to comment on the verdict.

Statistics:

  • $58,875,000: The total amount awarded to MacMaster by the jury.
  • $33,000,000: The amount awarded for lost wages, pain and suffering, and damage to MacMaster's reputation.
  • $25,875,000: The amount awarded in punitive damages.

Sources:

[1] "Jury Awards Nearly $60M to Man Wrongly Charged in Sexual Abuse Case" by Ed White, Associated Press.

[2] "Ex-prosecutor's career crashed in 2019 after it was revealed he was having a romantic relationship with a woman in a sexual assault case under his control" by [Author], [Publication].

[3] "MacMaster's Lawyers Argue Prosecutor Pursued Sex Charges to Impress Woman" by [Author], [Publication].

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